Different Gazes
by AcquiredMadness
Summary: Spencer closes her eyes and presses her lips together as the elevator stops and dings at every floor. Aria glances at the brunette in pure satisfaction before looking ahead at the elevator doors with a smirk. "You started it." "Don't..." Spencer says softly in a serious tone. "...Bet you won't do that next time." [College AU, Sparia, Fluff & Many More]
1. Chapter 1: Study Nightmare

**Summary: Two undergrad UPenn students. One's majoring in Legal Studies, the other English. The preparation of Winter Finals brings out the competitiveness, the awful and the….kookiest out of some students. What happens when these two undergrads cross paths during the craziness of the Finals? [AU]**

 **Welcome! Welcome! Come on in! I am your author, AcquiredMadness, here yet again to bring you another PLL-based story. This Fic is centered on college and two people's relationship with one another. You guess it, I'm talking about Sparia. But not just** _ **any**_ **Sparia, It's the evolution of Sparia.**

 **So, sit back, relax and allow me to illustrate you into a story I like to call, "Different Gazes".**

Chapter One: Study Nightmare

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Walking across the nicely, polished, green lawn on campus, Aria is talking to her best friend, Hanna on the phone about current college life while on her way to her college house. "So far, things are good here, _but_ , you know what time of the season it is. It's time for-".

"Premeditated suicide. That is something that I've been thinking about a lot lately." With her phone balancing between her left ear and shoulder, Spencer is handling three of her textbooks in one hand while using the other to dig in her pocket for her student ID card. "I feel like I'm going to have an aneurysm at any given moment, Em. Its work overload!" Spencer puts her card in the card reader and waits for the red signal to turn green before she opens the door. "Not that I can't handle work or anything. It's just that-"

"I don't know what is going on. Just when I think I have a good handle on something, bam. I become completely lost," Aria tells Hanna as she walks through the front double doors of her dorm. "But now, it's nothing but studying from this point out."

"Why don't you treat yourself to a party?" Hanna asks.

Aria furs her brows and opens her mouth to say something before Hanna continues, "A study party, of course. So you will be able to work _or cheat_ with others."

"You know, that sounds like a good plan but-"

"You'd be surprised how many people at this school don't take their academics seriously," Spencer says as she grabs her room key and unlocks her room door.

"Really? You'd think getting into an Ivy-League, you'd be all about your academics." Emily responds back to Spencer's statement.

Spencer puts her books, bag and keys on kitchen bar which separates the kitchen and the living room. "Most of these kids here are here because of money. When your parents are filthy rich, you can afford to go anywhere. And because your parents are dropping $20,000 worth of donations into the school, grades don't mean shit because hey, you're gonna pass anyway." Spencer walks into her room while she unties her navy blue trench coat. "But, go do what you have to do, Em and I'll talk to you later."

"Alright. Good luck with that icky thing you call studying," Hanna tells Aria as the phone call comes to an end.

"Ugh. Ok, Bye," Aria ends the call and throws herself in her bed, face down.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Aria whines a muffled cry into her pillow.

…...

Freshly showered and dressed, looking into her dresser mirror, Aria takes the black hair-tie off her left wrist and puts her hair in a loose bun. She breathes in and out before she starts talking to herself, "Ok. You got this. We're gonna start with Earth Science tonight. No biggy. You're gonna go slow and pace yourself. It's all about pacing. Pacing and retaining. Pacing and retaining…" Aria repeats those last two words of encouragement as she walks into the living room where she walks in on her roommate, Katherine, a medium height, volleyball built brunette, reciting words as well.

"Hey, Kat." Aria greets as Katherine paces around the living area.

"Hi." She quickly responds back before continuing to reciting her words.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah. I'm just trying to study Dr. Evans quiz tomorrow. Well, it's a pop quiz but I know he's gonna give it so I'm preparing myself," Katherine says as she continues to pace.

"Oh ok." Aria says as she goes into kitchen fridge and pulls out an unopened bottle of water.

"I hope I'm not getting in the way of your studying. I know I can get pretty nosy. I have to do this to remember things, ya know?" Katherine enlightens Aria as she bends down to look at her book on the couch.

Aria shakes her head, "Oh no, I was just about to go to the library anyways. You're fine," she smiles at her roommate.

"Ok! Bye!" Katherine says hastily before she starts reciting aloud again.

Aria returns to her room to throw on her blue wide legged sweats as she gets ready to go to the library. _Definitely wasn't the pacing and reciting I had in mind but alright._

 _...…_

Spencer is sitting cross legged in the middle of her bed with a book cracked open and a few notes scattered. She puts the top of an orange highlighter pen in her mouth while examining over a page of notes in front of her.

"The development of a chained response always acts from the primary reinforcer backward…" Spencer mumbles to herself as she highlights a line from her notes.

"Chained response can also occur-" Spencer is cut off mid-thought as her roommate and her company starts laughing out loud on the other side of the wall. She ignores it and continues back on her notes.

"Between two people. Chained response can also occur between two people…" Spencer takes the pencil from behind her right ear and jots down a side note before she continues on.

"Not only do the consequences of certain-"

"No fucking way! You're lying!"

"I'm Not-Look! I have it right here!"

"…OH MY GOD!"

"I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU I WASN'T LYING!"

Spencer slams her pencil and highlighter on her bed as she ferociously picks up her notes and stuffs it inside her textbook. _I cannot fucking study with these BITCHES howling every 10 seconds!_ Spencer jumps off her bed and wildly pulls open her dresser drawers and fumbles for a pair of grey sweats. _Because nobody in this place needs to study to pass their classes because daddy pays for everything!_ She throws open her closet door, rips a black hoodie of the hanger and throws it over her head. _Then I have to invite another cackling monkey to a dorm that shares with another person! That has to fucking! Study!_

Spencer flings open her bedroom door and walks into the living room with her books in hand, bag over shoulder and whatever she could fit in her pockets.

"Hey, Spencer! Where are you going?" Spencer's roommate asks her as she walks pass them.

Spencer turns around to face her roommate and friend. "To the library. You know. Where it's _quiet._ "

Before the roommate could respond, Spencer opens the door and closes it behind her, sealing whatever they were going to say.

…...

With the sun setting behind her, Aria walks up the flight of steps leading to the library. She opens the double doors and walks the silent hallway before opening another door on her left. She is greeted with the smell of old books, something she loves. She mouths "Hi" to the librarian and walks towards the back where the tables are located. Quite of few people are scattered around sitting at the tables, couches and even floor as they cram away. She finds a long table in the corner with another student at the end. She puts her things down, four chairs distance away from the other studier. Sitting comfortably, she pulls out her notebook, assorted pens and pencils and textbook before she takes out her phone and plugs herself away.

…...

" _The punished group made fewer responses during the first extinction session than did the non-punished group…"_ Spencer mentally recalls as she searches through her textbook pages. _Extinction… Extinction…_

While flipping her book pages, she hears a light but steady hum coming from somewhere. She peers her head up instantly like a groundhog to see the girl down the table from her is listening to her music and humming. _Nononono-nope. Not today._

Spencer taps on the table to get the smaller brunette's attention. When the girl looks up, Spencer gestures her to remove her earbuds.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry but you're humming is really distracting." Spencer says in a "matter of factly" voice.

"Oh! I'm sorry…" Aria says as she ducks her head down in embarrassment.

"Thank you," Spencer goes back to looking into her book. _Where was I? Punished group… group, group, group… Extinction, right._

…...

Half an hour passes by and the two girls are still well into their studies. Aria puts her finger on one page as she looks at another. _This rock, that rock…that the end of the day, they are all just rocks._ Aria tries to recall the name of the layers of sedimentary rocks. _What was that called again?_ Aria begins to lightly tap on her paper as she tries to not look at her book for the answer. _C'mon you got this … OMG. WHAT IS IT CALLED? Ok, I know it starts with an s._

"I swear to god, if you don't stop with that _fucking_ _tapping…"_ a stern whispered voice floats from the other side of the table.

 _Str…Stra...Ugh, what is it? Stra…Strata. Strata!_ _The_ _layers of sedimentary rocks is called Strata!_

"Stop tapping your fucking pencil!" Spencer rises up causing others to shush her and Aria to look at her perplexed.

"No, you don't have to _shush_ me! I'm just gonna leave!" The taller brunette aggressively packs up her things and leaves the table, leaving Aria still confused.

"What did I do?" Aria asks a guy sitting across from her at another table who returns a shrug in response.

…...

The next morning, leaving out of her American History lecture, Spencer walks down a hallway, towards an elevator. She presses the button and waits for it to reach the seventh floor. Moments later, the elevator digs,she walks in and presses the lobby button. With the doors still open, a smaller brunette turns the corner in hopes of catching an elevator.

 _Oh noooo._ Spencer thinks to herself as she quickly presses the 'door close' button, after recognizing Aria to be the same chick from the library that made her cut her session short and study in her car.

Aria sees the doors slowly closing and swiftly rushes herself in between them, causing them to reopen again. Seeing that the taller brunette purposely tried to close the doors on her, Aria spitefully leans over and presses every floor button as the elevators close. Spencer shoots her a vicious glare while Aria fixes her posture and stares straight ahead.

Spencer closes her eyes and presses her lips together as the elevator dings and stops at every floor, keeping the doors open for at least seven seconds each before slowly closing. Aria glances at the brunette in pure satisfaction before looking ahead at the elevator doors with a smirk.

"You started it."

"Don't..." Spencer says softly in a serious tone.

There is a silence between the two for a few seconds as the elevator travels to the first floor.

"Bet you won't do that next time…"

"Have you been assigned to make my life a living hell?!" Spencer spits out as she speedily turns to face Aria.

"Yep." Aria twists and turns her body slightly like a little child, still facing forward. "I am your personal little demon," She says with a twisted grin as the elevators doors open up to the lobby of the Levine Hall.

"Bye, sweetheart!" Aria waves before she walks out of the elevator and walks onto her next location.

Spencer leans the back of her head against the elevator wall she has been standing in front of. "Premediated suicide…I'm gonna do it," She mutters to herself before she straightens up and walks out the elevator into the lobby.

 **Spencer and Aria have met each other for the first time,** _ **but**_ **, it wasn't on the greatest terms. With Spencer stressing over the end of the first term and Aria making it her unofficial job of making her newfound frienemy go crazy, how will these two blossom over time?**

 **You want fluff and a development of a ship? You've seen nothing yet…**

 **Thank you for reading and I hope you stick with me from here on out with the other chapters. I have some pretty nice things planned for these two. Comments/Reviews are always treasured!**

 **(Are you a fan of Emison and need another story to add to your collection? Be sure you check out my 1** **st** **fic, "** _ **Trouvaille**_ **" today! :D)**


	2. Chapter 2: Personal Little Demon

Chapter Two: Personal Little Demon

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

As a class is departing their ending lecture, Spencer stays behind until everyone has left.

"Dr. Jameson?"

The professor looks behind him to see one of his students walking his way before he returns to erasing his whiteboard. "Hastings. How can I assist you?"

With her _American Literature Since 1875_ book held tightly in front of her chest, Spencer approaches her English Professor, "With this term coming to an end, I was wondering if you could give me any tips on how I could ace this final? Any recommendations or study techniques you could offer me, since there is no study guide, would be extremely appreciated."

Dr. Jameson turns to face Spencer while dusting his hands together from the erasing powder he accumulated. "You know…" his gravelly voice starts off, "You're the first student this term to ask me for assistance."

Spencer tenses, not knowing if that was a positive or negative.

"And that just goes to tells me that you really care about your well-being in my class." Dr. Jameson says as he shoves his hands in his tailored brown suit pants.

"Yes, I do," Spencer smiles as she relaxes her posture. "People say this is a difficult class but it's really not if you take everything in moderation."

"People say my class is difficult because they expect everything to be handed to them," The professor states as walks behind his desk and sits down.

Spencer nods her head in full agreement, "I'm more of the "take the harder path" kind of person. Just because the success at the end is much more sweeter."

Dr. Jameson laughs as he jots down something on a yellow sticky note. It rips if off the stack and hands it to Spencer. "Go down to the Van Pelt Library and search for this book, _American Literature & Events Beyond 1870. _It's something I like to go off of here and there. With that book, you'll get a little bit more in-depth information with the subjects we've covered here this whole semester. It'll give you a leverage and better understanding for the final."

Spencer transfers her book into one hand as she extends the other to shake Dr. Jameson's hand. "Thank you so much!" Spencer cheers with gratitude, "I'll get on this right away."

"Don't tell anyone I gave you that. As far as we're concerned, you found that book on your own time," The professor coaches Spencer as he leans back into his desk chair.

"Of course! Thank you again, Dr. Jameson."

…

Spencer walks towards the non-fiction side of the library with her sticky note stuck to her right index finger. _American Lit…_ She turns into one of the aisles just to find the person she loathed the most standing in the middle of it, searching for a book.

As Aria looks up at the person entering the aisle, a wide grin spreads across her face as she waves towards her new friend.

"Hi-"

"Please spare me. I do not have time for the antics." Spencer cuts Aria off before she manages to say anything else.

Aria frowns, "I can't even greet my best friend?"

Spencer, a few feet around from the smaller brunette bends down as she scans though the books on the shelf in front of her, "We are not friends. We're not even acquaintances."

Aria shifts her body weight to one leg as she crosses her arm with a book between them. "You know, you're right. We can't be _best_ friends since I don't even know your name. _Sooo_ …I'll just knock it down to friend status. What your name, friend?"

"I don't have one," Spencer responds as she pulls out a book, examines it, and puts it back.

"Ok… _No name_. That's a pretty odd name. I mean, what did your parents put down on the birth certificate when you were born?"

Spencer inches closer to Aria as she continues to look for her book. "Look, can we save this for another time?"

"Ok, when?" Aria excitedly asks.

Spencer stands up straight unable to find the book and looks to Aria, "Like, never." At that exact moment, she glances over at the book that Aria has inside her crossed arms. "What book is that?" She asks at she points at the brunette.

Aria uncrosses her arms and looks at the book, "It's called _American Literature & Events Beyond 1870."_

Spencer's eyes widen, "I need that book."

"Sorry, but I'm on my way to checking it out."

"Nononono," Spencer stammers as she steps closer towards Aria. "I _need_ that book for my final. It's the only copy left." Spencer complains as she starts getting anxious.

"Well, you came a little too late, No Name. This book is now mines until I return it." Aria replies to the taller brunette.

" _Please_! I _have_ to have that book. My grades literally hang on the balance and without that book, I'm not going to be able to pass my test next week."

Aria raises an eyebrow and a smirk slides across her face. "Well… What's in it for me? I can't just _give_ you a book that _I_ need just because _you_ need it. I must be compensated something if you want it to work that way."

Spencer furs her brows in frustration, "I have nothing to give you-"

"Then I guess it's a no deal," Aria cuts off Spencer when she hears that she would get nothing in return. She turns on her heels and proceeds to walk off.

"Wait!" Spencer yells out in a hushed whisper, "I-I'll do whatever assignment you want me to do. Next term, I'll do whatever English paper you want." Spencer begs as this proposal is her only chance to get that book into her hands.

Aria turns back to Spencer before she turns the corner, "Seeing that I like English, that offer means just about nothing to me." She smiles and waves, "Bye, No Name!"

Spencer crumbles up her sticky note in anger as she puts her hands against the book shelf in front of her, " _Fuck_!"

…

As the day dwindles down to night, Spencer looks at her alarm clock by her bed that blinks 7:02pm.

"Yes, I'm right here," Spencer says as a voice appears on the other line after being put on hold.

"Hi, Spencer. So I just talked to the service crew and they say that….should…days." The voice cuts in and out as the female customer service employee informs Spencer.

"I'm sorry say that one more time, I couldn't hear you," Spencer says as she plugs one ear with her finger.

"We….crew….and the….couple days."

"Wait, just give me one minute." Spencer leaves her bedroom and walks into the living room to get a better signal. "Can you repeat that again?"

"Yes. I…. service… days." The employee repeats.

Irritated, Spencer looks towards her living room window that has an overview of the front of the college house. "I'm sorry there is a storm where I'm at and I think it's messing up the call. Give me another second, please."

"Sure."

Spencer unlocks her dorm door and walks into the hallway.

"Ok, can you hear me?"

The voice responds but it's too garbled to hear.

"Ok, hold on" Spencer walks down the hall towards the doors that lead outside. _Even though it's raining, the deck should have a better signal._ Spencer turns the door handle and leans half her body outside with the other half still inside the hallway.

"Can you hear me, better?" Spencer asks, hoping for a clear call.

"Yes, Ms. Hastings. Can you hear me alright?"

"Yes. Much better" Spencer steps from outside the door, under a little roof attached to door so she doesn't get wet.

"Great. I was saying that our service members have checked everything and you should be getting your laptop back in a couple of days. It seems that something was wrong with the fan of the computer so it was replaced and on its way sent back to you."

Spencer nods her head in satisfaction as she shudders a bit because of the cool air. "Thank you, so much."

"My pleasure. Anything else I could help you with?"

"No thank you. I'm fine."

"Well, alright. It has been nice talking to you Ms. Hastings. Bye-bye."

"Goodbye." Spencer hangs up her phone and attempts to open the door back into her college house. The door doesn't budge. _Right. Card._ Spencer reaches into her pockets to- _Wait what pocket_ s? Spencer looks down to see that she is wearing pajama pants with no pockets. Panicking, Spencer frantically checks her bra to see if she stuffed it there. _No bra!_ Spencer remembers exactly where her ID is.

In her wallet.

In her bag.

On her bed.

In her room.

 _Oh my god._

…..

Standing for about three minutes knocking on the door, Spencer decides to phone her roommate.

The phone rings

And rings

And rings

Until it gets to her voicemail. _Of course she wouldn't answer her phone. How predictable._

Spencer shivers as the wind from the rain picks up just a little bit. _Someone has to be walking that hallway. Someone has to hear me._ Spencer knocks a little louder in hopes of someone hearing. She tries to peer through the side door window but it's slightly fogged to make out any clear detail. In that moment, someone appears from the corner and walks down the hallway opposite of Spencer. Spencer desperately knocks on the door to get their attention. The stranger turns around and walks towards the door. _Finally._

Getting closer to the door, the student looks through the window to see who was knocking on the door. With the face being close enough, Spencer recognizes that the student is no stranger at all. _Of course!_

Aria sees Spencer locked outside in a white short sleeved shirt with blue and purple pajama pants. She giggles to herself to see that the Universe has put Spencer in her path once again.

"Can you open the door, please?" Spencer's muffled voice comes through the other side.

"Now, how did you get yourself stuck out there?" Aria curiously asks the cold brunette.

"I went outside for a phone call and forgot to bring my card. Can you please let me in?"

Aria ponders for a second. "I think this is a perfect opportunity for a payback…"

"Payback?! For what?!" Spencer yells out, getting visibly upset.

"For trying to close the doors on me the other day. You know, that really hurt my feelings" Aria pouts.

"You pressed all the buttons in that elevator! That was already instant karma!"

" _No_ …That was justification. This. _This_ is karma. Ta-ta, No Name." Aria turns to walk away from the door.

"No!" Spencer bangs loudly on the door. "Open the door!"

Aria waves behind her while still keeping on a straight path.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!"

….

Five minutes later, Aria walks back to the door she left Spencer at and opens it. Expecting to see Spencer still waiting, Aria looks in different directions for her but is found nowhere in sight. _She must have already came inside._

… _Concurrently…_

Spencer walks through the double doors of the front of her College House, soaking wet with her arms crossed to cover her chest. She approaches a young male student worker at the front desk.

"Can you open the hallway door for me?" Spencer asks in a low tone.

"Can I see ID?" The male asks the dripping brunette in front of him.

"I left it in my room." She remarks, calmly.

"Then, I'm sorry. I can't let you in without ID."

Spencer closes her eyes and continues in a low, calm tone, "Listen. I am soaking wet from being accidentally locked out of the dorm. I walked _all_ this way, _barefoot_ , in the middle of a thunderstorm, to arrive at the front to get back into my room. Do you _think_ that I would go through all this trouble _just_ to sneak into a College House that isn't even mines? My name is Spencer Hastings, in room 156. Look it up if you fucking have to. _Now_ , can you please just open the damn door."

Intimidated, the young guy walks from behind the desk and unlocks the door leading to the hallways with his card, looking at spencer apologetically.

"Thank you." Spencer thanks sternly.

Spencer quickly walks down her hall to get to her room door without anyone seeing her. At the same time, Aria is leaving the outside door nearby to Spencer's room. Aria turns to see that Spencer is halfway down the hallway.

Aria slowly walks in the direction of the wet brunette, "I came back to open the-"

"Not. Another. Word." Spencer slowly mutters out

"I-"

"Ah!" Spencer cuts her off.

"But-"Aria tries to apologize.

"No..."

Aria stays quiet for a moment before she points something out, "Y-Your nipples are showing…"

Spencer glares at the small brunette, " _You_ …would be the cause of that."

"The cause of your nipples being hard or…?"

"GOODNIGHT, SATAN." Spencer exclaimed before making her way past Aria and into her unlocked room door.

"Goodnight…" Aria mumbles to herself as she stood alone in the hallway.

…

Saturday, the next morning, Aria gets up in hopes of finding Spencer to formally apologize for locking her out in the rain. Even though she never caught her name, she now knows, at least, what room she stays in seeing they live in the same building. Aria does her daily morning routine of taking a shower, putting on makeup and dressing herself in light but comfortable attire. Aria leaves her room, takes the stairs to the first floor, and heads towards Spencer's room, hopeful of catching her.

 _Knock knock_

A female opens the door to find Aria standing there. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for…" … _Shit! I never got her name._ "Uhmm… You have a roommate here that I just met and I wanted to talk to her really quick." Aria crosses her hands in front of her nervously.

"You mean, Spencer?" _Spencer? She doesn't look like a Spencer…_

"Yeah!" Aria points her finger, pretending to fake remember her name. "I need to speak to Spencer. Is she here?"

"You just missed her," the blonde leans on the door. "She left not too long ago."

"Do you know where she went?"

"No idea. She just up and left. I'll tell her you stopped by."

"Thanks," Aria gives a half smile and turns around, intending to leave.

"Wait. What's your name?" The roommate calls out.

"Oh," Aria turns back around. "My name is Aria."

"Ok, Aria. I'll tell her that you came over."

"Thanks, again" Aria turns around and walks down the hallway towards the stairs to go right back to the second floor of her dorm. _Welp, I guess it's just study time from here on out._

…

Spencer walks into her dorm with a few bags filled with some groceries, well into the afternoon. She sets the bags on the counter as her roommate, Sarah, is sprawled out on the couch on her phone. She pokes her head up, "Hey, Spencer."

"Hey," Spencer says as she starts putting away the food.

"Aria came for you earlier today." Sarah tells Spencer, lying back down.

"Aria?" Spencer turns around, unable to recognize that name. "Who is that?"

"Uhmm…Small girl. Like 5'2. Dark wavy hair, a pale ivory skin complexion…" Sarah says as she moves her hands in the air.

Spencer pauses before putting the Fruit Loops cereal box in the pantry, "What did she come for?"

"She said she had to talk to you about something. I dunno."

Spencer puts the cereal away, "I don't know who that is." Then she mutters under her voice, "And I don't want to know who she is."

 **Hi, everyone! Thank you for continuing to read this story! I know that Sparia isn't really a "popular" paring so I'm not expecting a big following. That being said, thank you so much for the ones that are interesting in the direction of this fic! Even though I was starting to become discourage, I saw a screenshot of an Anime show and the person who posted it regarded it towards fanfiction writers. The subtitles of that screenshot said something along the lines of, "Even if you only have one reader, you continue to write for that person." I can't explain why but I** _ **really**_ **like that quote and it definitely gave me more ambition to continue to write this Sparia fic. Thank you for your comments, favorites, and follows. It really means a lot!**

 **Will Spencer allow Aria to redeem herself? Will Aria keep pushing or will they just continue to cross each other's paths with bad blood?**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3: Just a Restart

**Thank you all for sticking with me so far! I sincerely appreciate every single one of you :)**

CHAPTER #3: Just a Restart

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

That Saturday night, Aria looks at her phone to check the time. _11:27pm. I could go for something right now…_ Aria gets up from her bed covered in old assignments and notes and walks out of her room to the kitchen. She opens to see what the fridge has to offer.

 _Water…Milk… Juice … More juice… Fruit… Eggs . . . Ok, so this is going nowhere fast._

Aria closes her fridge and looks inside her pantry for any snacks, which becomes a losing game for her to find anything to munch on. Aria crosses her arms, defeated, in the middle of her kitchen. _What place would still be open at 11:30 at night…?_

Aria mentally scans the surrounding bakeries and shops around her campus, somewhere close by. _Starbucks…Of course._ Aria heads back into her room and opens her closet doors. She grabs a random pair of jeans and a sweater as she puts them over her tank and short shorts. Living at such a campus as UPenn, you have to walk just about everywhere. Especially with the location of her College Hall, there is no parking nearby. Aria leaves her car about 0.5 miles away in a parking garage. That means if she had to go anywhere, she would have to walk 8-10 minutes across her campus just to get to her vehicle. Because of that dilemma, Aria brought herself a bike for those days/nights where she had to do some quick travels. She grabs her wallet and leaves her dorm. Making her way down the stairs, Aria quickly decides whether she'll walk to Starbucks or ride there.

 _Walking would take me about 3-4 minutes but biking would be about a minute, give or take… But do I really feel like unchaining the bike and chaining it back up? … I'll walk._

Aria heads out the side exit door of her College Hall and proceeds to walk to Starbucks in the dark of the night before it closes at 12.

…

Aria walks inside the freshly-roasted scented Starbucks that has a few people lingering here and there. She stands by the front counter as she looks at the menu to see what she'll have. After battling what to order, she casually glances at another customer, who looks disheveled and tired, waiting for an order in their pajamas. After a moment of looking at the waiting customer, she realizes, once again, who she ran into.

Spencer feels eyes on her as she turns her head in the direction of Aria.

"You've got to be kidding me," she mumbles under her breath as she hangs her head. Aria takes a step towards Spencer. "Please don't." Spencer tiredly protests, "If you've came here to make my night even more of a hell, you've already won."

"Look, Spencer, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For everything." Aria apologizes as she steps closer, "I just want to start over. No games, no fighting, just a restart."

Spencer suspiciously eyes the smaller brunette, not knowing if she should trust her or not. "How do you know my name?"

"I came by your dorm earlier today. I got your roommate who told me. I wanted to apologize then but you were already gone."

Spencer finally caves in as she sighs, "Ok. We can restart. What's your name?"

"Aria. Aria Montgomery."

"I'm Spencer Hastings." Spencer responds.

Aria gives Spencer a smile before changing it from a happy one to a sympathetic one. "It's nearly midnight, you look tired and in you're in your pajamas, waiting on possibly an order of coffee." Aria lightly teases, "Do you need a hug?"

Spencer rubs her eyes, "I've been up since four this morning. Caffeine is the only thing keeping me alive. I'm so glad this place closes late." A barista comes towards the front where Spencer is waiting and hands her her order of Venti Pike Place Roast. Spencer thanks the worker and turns to Aria. "I might be worn-out but what are you here for if not the same thing."

"I need something hot and chewy for my late night studying session. Figured this place could satisfy my needs."

Spencer takes a sip of her coffee, "Just like what this is doing right now…" she sighs with her eyes closed; Aria chuckles.

…

Aria and Spencer walk back inside their College Hall and stand in the hallway by Spencer's door.

"Wait right here?" Aria asks Spencer with her drink and baked goods in her in hands, hoping she would.

"Uhm.. Ok."

Aria quickly walks towards the stairs not too far from them and disappears behind the doors. Spencer stands idly in the hallway as she taps on her cup. _Where would she run off too and why? Ugh… So much work I got to do. I don't know how I'm gonna survive this._ Spencer rubs her right eye once more. _Ok. I'm gonna study until about 3 or 4. By then at 12, I would already had a good full 8 hours. Do some more quick studying for at least the quiz in Mr. Austin's class._ Spencer's inner thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the stairwell doors opening.

Aria makes her way back to where she left Spencer, thankful she actually waited.

"Here…" Aria hands Spencer a book.

Spencer grabs the book to look at it. _American Literature & Events Beyond 1870. _Her eyes instantly widen.

"I know you said your grade hangs in the balance with this book so I decided you need it more than I do," Aria puts her hands in her jean pockets.

"T-Thank You, Aria." Spencer looks up at her, "Thank you."

"You know… I could…probably help you with it." She leans towards Spencer. "I didn't check out that book for testing purposes. I just wanted to learn some information for fun."

Spencer looks at Aria puzzled. "Read this for fun?"

"Oh, I'm majoring in English. I find some old authors fascinating and would like to learn a little more about them."

Spencer nods her head, understanding the curiosity.

"But yeah, If you need help. I could help you remember some things with a few tricks here and there. Once you get a system down, you're good to go." Aria gives the taller brunette a closed mouth smile. Does she really want to help Spencer or is she just offering her services just out of curtesy, actually hoping she'll decline it? Aria mentally questions herself as she knows she has work of her own that she needs to be studying.

"Sure." Spencer accepts. "Anything could help since there is no guideline to what would be on the test."

Aria finds herself oddly joyful to be helping Spencer. This sudden feeling must have came from the fact that she is no longer "enemies" with her. If you were to call that little back and forth making them enemies.

Spencer guides Aria to her dorm door as she pulls out the keys. When she unlocks the door, she holds it open, allowing Aria to enter. Aria sees that they have a similar dorm layout except reversed and different locations of furnishings. Spencer locks the door and begins towards her room where Aria follows behind.

Upon entering Spencer's room, she right away notices the simplicity and organization of it. With the small room and window facing the courtyard, she has her twin XL bed against the wall with the window, her dresser right beside it and closet across from her bed for the easy "jump to action" access. At the end of her bed she has computer desk with some extra space around for whatever. As Spencer sets her things on the dresser, Aria notices how much paper and assorted highlighters are scattered on her bed. _Looks like we have a heavyweight studier here._

Spencer takes off her hoody and hangs it up in her closet. She closes the closet doors and leans over her bed to grab her things, "We can work on the floor since there won't be much leg room on the bed."

As she transfers her work to the floor, Aria nods. _This is gonna be a long night._

 **Oooooh. Super short chapter this was! I was debating on either stopping it right here or keep it going, however, I decided that this would be a good ending for Chapter 3. Don't worry, Chapter 4 will be up in a couple of days, pick up with some time passing between the two. Not too much time but enough! How was it? Short and sweet or short and horrible because you want some more? Haha :)**

 **I don't know about you guys but I could definitely see Spencer waiting in line for coffee at nearly 12am, looking all types of crazily tired because of her work. Thought it'd be a perfect place for them to run into each other…** _ **again.**_

 **Now, that they have decided to put their past aside and start brand new, what's going happen now? :O**

 **What would** _ **you**_ **like to happen?**

 **Reviews, favs, and follows are always appreciated! :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Token of Appreciation

**Confession Time:**

 **I just found something out recently and I find it absolutely comical…**

 **Before this, I never really thought of Sparia as an OTP, more like a BrOTP. That is, until one faithful late night, I was on Tumblr and stumbled across someone's blog. They were doing a ship prompt of '** _ **who would do what in a relationship.'**_ **and I came across their Sparia one. They wrote that prompt so beautifully at** _ **that night,**_ **at** _ **that moment,**_ **I became in love with the idea of Sparia. I told them that anonymously and a few weeks later, I began writing Sparia fan fiction.**

 **Now this is when it gets hilarious.**

 **That** _ **same**_ **person that caused me to like yet another ship in my ocean of ships, is one of my favorite readers and I had no idea until I visited her page.**

 **I find the universe to be pretty funny sometimes, don't you, Prettylittletaylorswift? The way it just sets people up. It's quite hilarious, don't you think? ;)**

CHAPTER #4: Token Of Appreciation

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

"July 8th, 1871. Who was exposed in the _New York Times_ and what happened?" Aria holds up a white index card in front of her face, looking at Spencer.

"Tweed Ring was exposed and overthrown in July 8th, 1871." Spencer stares at the back of the index card as she recites the learned information.

"Good!" Aria turns over the card to show Spencer and puts it on the floor face down on a pile consisting of almost 150 note cards. Spencer stretches out her neck as Aria picks up another of the few remaining cards.

"What year was the telephone invented and by who?"

"Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876."

"Correct!"

"The Northern Cheyenne escape from their reservation in Oklahoma in attempt to what?"

"To reach their lands in Montana Territory."

"Yes!" Aria throws down the index card and picks up the last one as Spencer adjusts her sitting position on her carpet flooring.

"1875… The Supreme Court decides what? Minor v. Happersett?" Aria reads slowly before she looks up at Spencer sitting in front of her.

Spencer ponders for a second, trying to think of the answer.

"C'mon, Attorney Hastings…" Aria encourages her struggling friend.

Spencer blankly looks at the back of the index card that Aria holding, nothing coming to mind.

"Minor vs Happersett." Aria starts off. "Remember what we practiced? Happersett…Oppressed…"

"Minor v. Happersett! The decision allows states to set suffrage requirements and denies women's voting rights!" Spencer snaps, rising up from her crossed legged sitting position.

" _Correct_!" Aria throws the card to the side as she puts up a hand to high five Spencer. Spencer slaps her hand a five before raising two fists in the air in celebration.

"You _so_ got this final tomorrow!" Aria applauds Spencer, "Absolutely nothing for you to worry about."

"Thank you so much for helping me, Aria. I really appreciate you bending backwards for me when you have your own things to study for." Spencer appreciations as she starts picking up all the note cards off the floor.

"You kidding? I had so much fun over the past couple days helping you." Aria helps pick up the note cards. "Besides, my finals aren't _that_ intense. Most of them I know I could just wing and pass so it's no biggy."

"How many classes do you have them in?"

"Only three."

Spencer stops to look at Aria, "Only _three_ finals?" She questions in shock. "How did you manage that?"

"With the help of a little site called " Aria smiles at Spencer. "You've never heard of it?" Spencer shakes her head. "It's a site where you leave 'reviews' for the professors at your school. This way, before registration, you know what teachers to take and who _not_ to take. I just so happened to find teachers who were very lenient and laid back."

"No way! A thing like that exists?!" Spencer widens her eyes in total disbelief.

"Mhmm!" Aria looks down to continue to pick up their studying materials, "That's why I know my finals aren't going to be hard. I picked the right ones."

"You have to show me this before the semesters starts again next month." Spencer says as both her and Aria stand up, hands filled with materials.

"Ok," Aria nods her head as she lays everything down on Spencer's bed. "Anyways, don't forget to show me what you get on your test when you get it back. I want to make a copy and hang it on my refrigerator like the proud mother I am." She smiles widely at the taller brunette as Spencer starts to laugh, looking at her phone.

"Well...It's 1:15am. I think it's time to end this session and turn it in for the night." She turns to face Aria.

"Oh? It is?" Aria, well aware of the time, pretends to be clueless. The fact is, Aria liked staying over Spencer's dorm. With Aria's roommate not really communicating to her, she enjoys someone else's company. "Well, I better start going…" Aria slowly turns to grab her bag and phone which is laying on the floor next to Spencer's closet.

"I'll walk you to your room, if you want?" Spencer offers as she watches the smaller brunette get her things.

"Yeah, sure." Aria smiles.

Aria and Spencer both walk out of Spencer's room to Sarah making something to eat in the kitchen.

"Hey guys. How was your studying session?" Sarah asks as she washes her hands in the sink, facing the two brunettes.

"It went great!" Aria happily explains. "Spencer isn't going to get anything below an A."

"Are you leaving, Aria? I thought you moved in with us." Sarah teases as she dries her hands. "You've been over here so long for the past couple of days, I thought you and Spencer were gonna share that room."

Aria blushes as she glances up at Spencer who is giving Sarah a ' _really_?' look.

"No…"Aria chimes in, "Just helping." She adjusts the bag strap on her shoulder as she and Spencer continue to walk to the door.

"I'll be back." Spencer tells her roommate who had grabbed her plate and now is making her way her room.

"Alright, bye!" She waves to the duo.

…

Aria and Spencer slowly walk as they approach Aria's dorm door.

"You don't like, Sarah, do you?" Aria asks Spencer. By observing their body language and facial expressions, Aria picked up the vibe that Spencer isn't as friendly to Sarah as she is to her.

"She's just annoying… _All_ the time." Spencer sighs as she turns to face Aria. "She's just not my cup of tea."

"Well, lucky for you, all you have to do is stick out with her for a few more weeks and by the time the semester starts up again in January, you'll have a new roommate." Aria leans on her side on her door. "Don't stress it too much."

Spencer nods her head in the direction of Aria's dorm, "What about your roommate. Is she just as annoying as mines?"

Aria shakes her head, "Not really. I mean, we don't talk that much. Most of the time I'm in here by myself."

Spencer slowly nods her head as an awkward silence fills the hallway, neither of them saying anything.

"Well, I guess I'll head inside so you can get some rest for that test in the morning," Aria says standing up straight, breaking the silence.

"Yeah…See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow it is." Aria grins up at Spencer, retrieving the keys out of her bag.

Spencer gives another nod before she turns around and makes her way towards the stairs, back down to her floor.

Aria watches Spencer leave as she puts the key in. When out of site, Aria looks down and smiles to herself as she opens her door. Not knowing why she feels so smiley, she shakes off the adamant emotion. The feeling of a brand-new friendship blooming just makes her really excited, she guesses.

…..

Sitting on the carpeted floor of the library in one of the aisles in the back, Aria is reading a fiction book that she came across. While reading the first few pages to see if it's worth reading, Aria's phone buzzes.

[Spencer]: Where are you right now? (11:15am)

[Aria]: Library. Why? (11:15am)

[Spencer]: Which one? (11:16am)

[Aria]: VP. (11:16am)

Aria raises an eyebrow as she looks over at the text messages. She shrugs to herself and continues reading as she scoots her back against the book shelf.

…..

Five minutes later, Spencer walks into The Van Pelt Library and starts scanning through the aisles just to find Aria sitting on the floor reading. She casually walks up to the sitting brunette with a hand behind her back.

"Hey, Spencer," Aria lightly greets as she looks up from her book, "What's up?"

Spencer swings her hand from behind her back to expose her phone as she bends down, "This is what's up!" she excitedly whispers.

Aria, confused at what Spencer is showing her, closes her book and waddles her way to the phone on her knees. She grabs Spencer's hand to pull it closer to her so she could see.

 _Spencer Hastings – 97% American Literature Since 1875 Final_

"Spencer!" Aria accidently raises her voice. She quickly clasps her hand over her mouth before whispering again. "You got an A!"

"Hell yeah I did!" Spencer locks the phone and puts it in her back pocket, "If you didn't step in when you did, who knows how I would have done."

"This causes for a celebration!" Aria rises from her knees. "We must celebrate!"

Spencer quietly laughs, "Sure, whatever. I just ran over here to show you." She says as she stands up, "I got 15 minutes until my next class so I'll see you later."

"Ok!"

Spencer waves at Aria before quickly making her way out of the library. Aria cheerfully holds her hands in front of her chest as stands alone in the aisle. _I gotta do something!_ She thinks to herself. _I know! I'll make a cake! Sort of as a congratulations._ She thinks for a second before she turns around and bends down to pick up her phone and book. She opens Spencer's text conversation but stops mid texting. _No,no… It'll be a surprise._ Aria shoves her phone in her pocket as she quick steps her way to the front desk to checkout her book. She'll read it later but right now, she has a cake to bake.

…..

Coming home a little later than expected, due to a few outside-of-school errands, Spencer begins blow drying her hair from the shower she just took.

 _Buzz. Buzz._

[Aria]: Come over mines in 10. (7:24pm)

Spencer looks at the text on the bathroom counter as she passes the brush and blow dryer through of section of her hair. _Miss Aria, what ever do you have planned for me now?_

…

 _Knock Knock._

Spencer knocks at Aria's door. Through the walls she smells an assortment of different smells. _Is she cooking?_

The door opens and Spencer is greeted by the short brunette in a messy bun and an oversized grey Eeyore sweater that covers her shorts. She normally wouldn't look twice at her outfit until she noticed that it looked like she got into a fight with the flour man.

"Come on in, Miss. Smartypants!" Aria welcomes the confused Spencer.

"Why are-" She stops dead in the middle of her sentence when she sees that not only did Aria fight the flour man, it look like she lost and he messed up her whole kitchen as a victory taunt.

"Ok, Why-" She turned around for an explanation but is stopped yet again.

"Congratulations on passing your English Final!" Aria cheers as she holds up her prized creation of _her_ version of a 'cake'.

"An anthill?" Spencer raises an eyebrow as she eyes the pastry.

" _Nooo_! It's a cake! I tried to make it like a pretty mound shape but it wouldn't stay up." She raises the cake higher to Spencer's face.

"What type is it?" Spencer pokes the cake like a curious five year old.

" _Baba Au Rhum_ " Aria names the desert in a French imitation accent. "As the story goes, Polish King Stanislas Leszczynska, the father-in-law of King Louis XV of France, was overthrown and banished to The Duchy of Lorraine, where he found the traditional kouglhopf too dry and dipped it in rum." Aria story tells as she walks over to the kitchen bar and sets the cake down. "His chef refined the recipe, using brioche dough and raisins. The king named the cake after one of the characters in his favorite book, Ali Baba; the name became shortened to baba."

"Where did you learn that info from? One of your favorite history books that you just _read for fun?"_ Spencer mocks Aria as she follows her to the bar.

Aria walks towards her utensils drawer to get a knife and a couple of forks, "Nope. Martha Stewart." Aria closes the drawer, grabs a two plates and walks over to Spencer as she hands her a fork. She turns the cake towards her and begins cutting, "I hope you like dark rum because that's what I saturated it with." She winks.

"So you're trying to get me drunk? That's what your ultimate endgame is here? Get me drunk and take my organs?"

"Oh, be quiet," Aria cuts a medium sized portion, puts it on a plate and slide it to Spencer.

Spencer cautiously eyes the piece of cake as Aria cuts her own slice. "I'm really glad you took the time out to create such an…intriguing story of a cake about people being banished and food being too dry and stuff but…" Spencer takes a deep breath, "your kitchen is a mess and I'm afraid that this might be poisonous."

With the knife in her hand, Aria turns towards Spencer and starts laughing. "The reason the kitchen looks distraught is because I'm short." Aria stretches her arms out beside her to show her small height. "Katherine, my roommate, puts things so high up that I have to turn everyday things into Dora the Explorer adventures. I tried to climb for the flour in that upper cabinet." She points the knife in the direction of the cabinet, "But as you can tell," Aria looks down at her wardrobe, "I had a little bit of a problem."

Spencer laughs as she reaches out to dust Aria's bun, "It even got in your hair."

"Exactly," Aria stands there as Spencer pats her down like a little puppy. "So with all that hard work, you could at least _try_ the cake."

"Ok, _Oook_." Spencer agrees as she takes her fork and cuts a small piece. She puts it in her mouth and slowly begins to chew.

Aria intently watches Spencer's as she tries to read her facial expression. _Please be good, please be good…_

Spencer chews a little faster as she slowly nods her head, "Mhmm…This is actually really good."

"Yes!" Aria does a little jump, thrilled by Spencer's approval.

"Yeah, this is good. Really good." Spencer continues to nod as she takes another piece. "It's rich, moist and decadent. Surprisingly, the rum isn't overwhelming." She critics with her mouth full. "Hopefully these aren't my last words before I die of sudden food poisoning."

Aria pouts as she slaps Spencer's arm, "You're most likely to be killed by a car on campus than by my cooking."

"But…But there are no cars on campus…" Spencer looks at Aria as she licks the remaining cake flavor off her lips.

" _Exactly_. Now stop yapping and finish your cake."

 **Who doesn't like a cute fluff! Seems like the two are starting to bond more, being more comfortable around each other…I wonder how far this goooooeess….**

 **Thank you all for continuing to read this story! You guys literally make my day :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Ending Semester

**Sorry on being so late! I had that "thing" that writers do. You know that thing where you sit and look at your work and you're like, "… I'll do this later." And when later comes, "….. Tomorrow. I got this tomorrow."**

 **Well, I kept doing that. But I will make it up!**

 **I promise! Thank you guys for still allowing to give this story life!**

CHAPTER #5: Ending Semester

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

 _With the Fall term coming to an end, everyone at UPenn must start to get ready for their winter break. According to the school's on campus policy, everyone must leave their dorms and the school by Friday of this week. You may take whatever you need during the break but once sealed off, you are prohibited to stepping foot into the campus until the third week of January. Roommates still stay the same unless a student doesn't come back for any reason. Then, that's when changes can be advised and granted…_

"Well, looks like all that studying finally paid off." Aria puts down the flyer that was attached to her door as she approaches her kitchen. "We leave the 18th and come back the 13th of January. That's almost a whole month off."

"Better than the scam they pulled last year, cutting our break short," Spencer notes before shoving a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. "Which, for one, I didn't appreciate at all".

Aria pulls a seat next to Spencer, "Well, what do you plan on doing this break? Going home?"

"Yep. Going home to my amazing set of parents that fight like children, trying to avoid any death traps set by my sister and staying indoors long enough that I can't run into my ex."

"Your ex?" Aria raises the question, "How long has it been since you guys talked?"

"Senior year?" Spencer asks herself as she cocks her head to the side, "Something like that. Things just didn't pan out the way we thought so we just separated."

"Did it end badly?" Aria asks, "Is there an animosity between you two?"

Spencer digests another spoonful of ice cream, "Not really but it's always awkward seeing your ex, especially when time has passed by. Besides, since I decided to go to Law school, he became a police officer so," Spencer plays with her ice cream with her spoon, "The possibility of seeing him is not in my favor".

"Well," Aria adjusts her seating, "I think I could go toe to toe with you…" Spencer raises a brow, "My ex is a teacher…A high school….teacher."

Spencer eyes widen, "Was he your formal teacher?"

Aria slowly nods.

Spencer drops her spoon into the cup of ice cream, "You dated him while you were in high school?"

Aria puts her hands up in surrendering mode, "Hey. I didn't know he was going to be my teacher when I _first_ met him. I didn't even know he was a teacher at all!"

"But you still dated him _after_ you found out he was your teacher?"

"….Yes."

Spencer shakes her head as she enters her last spoonful in her mouth. She gets up and walks around the bar to the sink, "He's a pedophile. He needs to be on the predators list."

"He's not a predator nor pedophile," Aria whines as she turns her body to face Spencer. "Besides he wasn't old! He was fairly young. Early 20's."

Spencer washes out her cup and spoon, "Did you at least get an A in his class? You know, since you were banging your teacher."

"Should that even be a question?" Aria gives Spencer a knowingly look.

"Sleeping our way to the top, I see? I thought I raised you better than that," Spencer flicks water at the laughing brunette.

"Well, that's what _I_ have to go home to." Aria wipes the tiny water particles off her face. "Kinda miss him, though…"

"Well, why did you guys break up?" Spencer puts away her cup and spoon.

"He wanted me to experience life and experience college. He felt that me being with him….It would take away opportunities away from me because I'd be too busy trying to live under him…" Aria trails off, looking down.

"Aww. The pedophile is considerate and supporting. How cute."

Aria shoots Spencer an annoying look. "He's not a pedophile, Spencer. The age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16, thank you very much."

Spencer leans forward against the sink, facing Aria. "The fact that you're proud about that is _pretty_ disgusting."

Aria huffs out as she crossed her arms in front of her, "We are only-"

Spencer cuts her off, leans off the sink and walks towards Aria's couch. "He's a pedophile. Don't care what the books say. Anyone that has to find _love_ in a child is a pedophile. It's basically rape."

"It's not rape if you wanted it." Aria slyly mocks as she turns her chair around to face Spencer.

Spencer throws herself onto Aria's couch, "Ok, 1: gross." She holds a finger in the air, "And 2: doesn't matter if you _wanted_ it or not. He's sick and so are you." She points at Aria.

Aria gets out of her seat and walks towards her couch. "Well, I'm an adult now. Sooooo…"

"So what now?" Spencer sits up, "You're gonna go home, rip off your clothes and yell out _'I'm an adult now!_ ' while you ride on top of him?"

Aria bursts into a fit of laughter while Spencer looks at her half concerned and half amused. "No, I'm not going to go home and ' _ride'_ him, Spencer." She picks up a pillow cushion and throws it at her. "I don't plan on even seeing him."

"Because if you do see him, you _might_ gain the urge to ride him." Spencer throws the pillow back at Aria. "If he's not already getting into the panties of some poor sophomore girl since that _is_ the thing he is into…" She mutters to herself.

Aria mouth drops as she holds the pillow in her hands. She hops on top of the couch and starts whacking the pillow on top of Spencer. "You take that back!"

Spencer holds her hands out to deflect the oncoming assault with a pillow. " _Hey_! Not my fault you find interests in those types of guys!"

Aria stops with the fluffy assaults as she fixes her hair, "Ok! 1, I don't have interests in _those_ types. And 2,…He's not in my interest anymore."

"Oh no?" Spencer also adjusts herself.

"I mean... His main thing was to send me off to college. Allow me to live my life without feeling the need to stay by him. He didn't want me to miss out of the best years of my life because of him. Soooo, we broke apart. I have love _for_ him but…right now… I'm not in love _with_ him." Aria squints at Spencer, "If that makes sense."

Spencer shrugs, "I mean it happens to the best of us. Besides, you guys are spending so much time apart, the heart moves on."

Aria looks down as she nods to herself. Wanting to change the subject before it becomes to deep, She takes a deep breath and turns back to Spencer, "Anyways! Don't forget to hit me up when you leave!"

Spencer leans back into the couch, "I won't."

Aria jumps closer to Spencer, "I mean it! Don't forget about me. I'm going to need _somebody_ to talk to in order to get through this break. I'll get bored," She puts on a sad face.

Spencer chuckles as she looks straight ahead, "Why is spending time with family after you leave them so hard? We've been around them for majority of our lives. Why is it so difficult to be around them once you come back to visit?"

"Because you realize how much you wanted to leave in the first place." Aria places her elbow against the couch as she rests her head in her palm.

Spencer purses her lips, "Seems legit." She turns to face Aria, "I'll text you during the break."

"And call."

" _And_ call." Spencer laughs. "Your break isn't going to be _that_ bad."

Aria closes her eyes, "You haven't met my family." She reopens them, "How about I go over to your place with you?" She asks with a hopeful grin.

"You haven't met _my_ family." Spencer groans. "And you don't want to."

 **Yuck, yet again a semi short chapter.**

 **The end of first semester is here and everyone has to break out to their own spaces. Over the month break, Spencer and Aria, as Aria pleaded, will be in constant communication. This will only make their friendship stronger when they return for the second semester, which Chapter 6 will pick up on. What does this second semester have in hold for our Sparia?**

 **Longer chapters, that's for sure.**

 **Review, Fav, and Follow! :D**


	6. Chapter 6: Sign Us Up

**An appreciative shout out to all the readers reading this fic! Both users and visitors! I know I say this every chapter but I sincerely thank you guys.**

 **And a special shout out to, Prettylittletaylorswift!** _ **I love you and your comments! They are like herion shots except filled with ambition instead of actual herion. but I think ambition can be a drug too, right?**_ **:D**

CHAPTER #6: Sign Us Up

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Aria jogs down the stairs and bursts through the door leading to the first floor. She fast paces to a particular room number and eagerly knocks as she awaits the door opening. Spencer opens the door but before getting anything out, Aria shoves her phone in her face.

"Read it, memorize it, live it." Spencer takes the phone out of Aria's hands as Aria walks inside of Spencer's dorm. "Those are my classes for this semester." She jumps around to face Spencer who is looking at Aria's class schedule. "Are we sharing any classes or what?" For basically the whole break, Aria and Spencer have been talking. Non-stop talking. If it wasn't texting, they were on the phone. If they weren't on the phone, they were on Kik. If they weren't on Kik, they were on some social media still talking. However, the last week, they lost communication so they never discussed the classes they were in.

"Well…" Spencer closes her door, with her face still glued to the phone. "Looks like…"

Aria attentively listens as she enthusiastically waits.

"…Looks like we share no classes." Spencer gives Aria an apologetic look as she hands her back her phone.

Aria sadly takes her phone, "Dammit, Spencer. What did you do?"

"I mean, we could have had the same art elective instead you took music and I took theater."

"Then one of us has to change." Aria perks up.

Spencer frowns, "I'm not changing to music. There is a reason that I didn't choose that class."

Aria crosses her arms, "Well, I don't want theater…."

Spencer throws her hands up as a gesture of defeat, "Well. There goes that." She walks over to her single couch chair and plops herself into it, "There will always be next semester."

Aria shakes her head, "….What if we both change it?"

"To what?"

"Well, you like theater and _I_ don't, I like music and _you_ don't….What about we do art?"

"Art?"

Aria sits onto the multi seated coach and leans against the arm rest to face Spencer, "Yes, Art. We only have three choices for an art elective. If we can't agree on a mutual class, let's drop them both and take up art!"

Spencer slowly shakes her head, "I dunno…."

"C'mon, Spence! It'll be fun! I promise! If we're gonna do this, we need to do this now before classes get filled and all the good teachers are taken." Aria stands up without hesitation. "Where's your laptop?"

"In my room," Spencer points. Aria walks to her room while Spencer loudly groans. "But Art is tedious and boring! Theater is so much better! Just make the switch and we'll make this easier on everyone!"

"Stop mumbling over there." Aria walks back into the living room with Spencer's laptop in her hands. Aria sits back into the couch and opens the computer. She pauses for a second as she gazes at the screen. "...You were looking up Courage the Cowardly Dog, Spencer?" She looks at Spencer with a perplexed tickled look.

Spencer gets out of her chair and hops into the couch next to Aria, "Well, _excuse me_ for trying to relive my childhood, Aria."

Aria chuckles as she looks back at the screen, "Out of all of the bad guys, my favorite villain was the Black Puddle Queen." Aria proudly beams.

"Yeah, you look like the type." Spencer cunningly agrees.

"A queen?" Aria grins as she pretends to place an imaginary crown on her head.

" _Nooooo._ A demon that allures men into her underwater castle with the sole purpose of eating them." Aria grimaces and opens her mouth to protest but Spencer shrugs, "I mean that _is_ who the Black Puddle Queen was. You said it yourself. You're a succubus."

Aria goes in to protest again but stops mid breath, "...A succubus…?"

"It's a female demon that comes to men in a dream and seduces them for sex. Once the deed is done, she sucks the soul of you...literally. You really need to brush up on your mythology."

"If you refer me to a demon one more time, I-"

"You started it! I'm just telling you that-"

Aria puts her hand up to stop Spencer, "Whatever. Let's just sign up for these classes before I end up devouring _you_." Aria sizes Spencer up and looks back at the laptop. "Alright, let's see what we got..."

...

"What about Mrs. Alan?" Spencer points to the open class.

"Let me look her up..." Aria clicks the "Rate my professor" on the other tab. She searches the teacher to see what review she has.

 _"Try to get a class with aaaaanyone else! She only accepts her personal style and taste of art. Very negative, difficult for her to find anything positive. Extremely condescending and harsh. Worst semester ever!"_

Aria looks at Spencer who quickly shakes her head, " _Hell_ no. Nononono, next."

Aria clicks over to the register tab to see who else is open. "Haselberger. Only three spots open." Aria looks up to see what review he has

 _"Dr. Haselberger is the best professor I have ever had. His love for Vitruvius has no equal. He tells you exactly what he expects from you and that's all you need to do. His German accent and delivery of intellectual jokes is wonderful. He insists that we use sketchbooks for note-taking as our minds our too used to be conditioned to write on lines."_

Aria looks to Spencer again, "He sounds good! He has an accent, makes jokes and is creative, let's take him."

"How many seats are available?" Spencer asks while still reading his reviews.

"Three."

Spencer snaps at the screen, "Sign us up."  
...

"To Plato, art was imitation of nature, but in the 19th century, photography took over that function, and in the 20th, abstract art overturned the whole notion that art was about representation." Dr. Hasleberger preaches as he stands in front of the class, his thick gravelly german accent filling the room. "Although art meant skill early on, conceptual artists elevated ideas over execution. So what is art?" He looks out onto his students, "Does it have to be beautiful? Expressive? Original? Uplifting? Intellectual?" He crosses his arms in front of him as he looks down, slowly pacing, "Now, according to Webster, Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. But the question is...'what does art mean to _you_?'" he points at Spencer. "Your name and your answer, please."

"I'm Spencer Hastings." Spencer readily answers as the entire class shifts in her direction. "Uhm..." She clears her throat, "Art is something undefinable, yet incredibly powerful; something far greater than the sum of its parts. Poetry, for instance, is a string of words, but words that open up a whole other world of meaning. A beautiful painting is beautiful because it goes way beyond the two dimensions of the canvas on which it is created. Art is a spiritual journey. It is not materialistic, or even rational. And neither should it be."

The art professor smiles as he nods at Spencer, "Beautifully put, Ms. Hastings. Art is indeed a spiritual journey to when a person opens within themselves to 'paint a picture', yes." His eyes shift next to Spencer, "And you, darling? What is art to you?"

"Uhmm…I would say...Art...it's like a language to me. It is the language of human greatness, both good and bad. It allows us to 'speak' of that which we aspire to. It's one of the ways we show our feelings. We can perceive other's feeling through the art without any word. Culture and language may have so much differences in different countries but art is a manifestation of emotion and emotion speaks a language that all may understand-Oh, and my name is Aria Montgomery."

"Montgomery," He husks. He tilts his head up, "What is your major, Montgomery?"

"English, Sir."

"I can tell," he chuckles. "Perfect self-explanation. Exactly how Ms. Montgomery explained, art is its own language. And in this class," He scans the room, "You're going to learn how to speak it, converse and dissect it."

...

"I like his class!" Aria walks besides Spencer as they walk down the steps outside of the building. "So far, what the reviews said were right. He's so sweet."

"Hopefully he stays that way. Although, _I do_ like the interaction. I thought we were going to have first day three pages of notes."

"Rate my professor, Spencer!" Aria playfully bumps into the taller brunette, "It's a miracle worker. Does all the stressing for you."

"Speaking of stress, I have 10 minutes to get across this lot to my other class." She turns around facing Aria as she walks backwards in front of her, "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Same here, I'll see you later on."

...

After an eventful morning/afternoon of new classes, Aria walks up the stairs to her dorm. In the back of her head, she can't help but notice something. _Ever since the opening of dorms, I haven't seen Katherine not once. Did she drop out? No, she couldn't have. Maybe she just switched rooms or something?_ Aria keys her dorm door, and makes her way inside. She feels that the dorm is much…lighter. She pauses as she scans her living room/kitchen area, trying to find out what feels so different. She slowly walks down the small hallway and walks to Katherine's room. She knocks, "Katherine?"

No reply.

Aria twists the handle and opens her roommate's room door. To her surprise, the room is completely empty except for the bed and desk. _Aha. So she did leave._ Aria frowns to herself, _she didn't even tell me goodbye. Typical Katherine._

 **I told you guys I was going to make up for my absence and here I am!**

 **Music class? Spencer is not up for it.**

 **Theater class? Aria says forget it.**

 **Well, why not an art class?**

 **Sharing only one class together, what adventures will these two rascals get themselves to?**

 **Why is this fic called, "** _ **Different Gazes**_ **"? Well, we are soon to find out…**


	7. Chapter 7: C'mon, Spencer! Please!

**Fear no more! Chapter 7 has arrived!**

CHAPTER #7: C'mon, Spencer! Please!

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

"Empty. Bare. Vacant. Unoccupied. The bird has flew its nest." Aria describes her new living situation over the phone with Spencer while she's heating up a hungry man TV dinner. "And she didn't even tell me. She just upped and left. No goodbye note or anything." Aria turns her back towards the microwaves as she leans against the counter. "Was I _that_ horrible of a roommate that she has to basically sneak out of our dorm?"

"She probably dropped out or changed College Halls, Aria. I'm pretty sure your face didn't scare her off." Spencer assures the worrying brunette as she's slowly moving up and down the aisles of Best Buy.

"It's just so odd…Welp, looks like I'm flying solo."

" _Be grateful_. What I would do to get a dorm all to myself." Spencer picks up an external hard drive and examines it, "No unwanted company, no noise. Sounds like a dream."

"Well, let's see how long that'll last before our RA tries to stuff someone in here with me."

…..

"I wouldn't say my teaching methods are…traditional." Dr. Hasleberger begins his lecture, leaning his back against the front of this desk located in the front of the class. "Traditional confines a person to live within the lines. Here, we're scribbling _outside_ of the lines. Now I…I like to get everyone involved and do hands on activities in this class. That'll way, you can actually apply this to your life instead of memorizing quick information or tests then never using it again."

Sitting beside each other, Aria and Spencer are well attentive to their Professor's speech of unconformity. With a pencil and cracked open sketchbook in front of them, the art professor gets ready for their first activity of the semester.

"Today we're going to work with perception." Dr. Hasleberger gets off his desk and walks to the whiteboard, grabbing a pen marker. "Everyone looks at, comprehends, and understand things differently. Show a piece of work to five different people and you'll get five different versions of what that art work means. Have a crowd of 2,000 people at a musical performance and 2,000 people are listening to the music differently, all with different perception. Now, with this exercise I need a person. Someone who is able to stand in front of the class for a perception viewing."

The large size class of about 60 people look around to see who's going to be the bold one to volunteer first. Aria looks around to see if anyone is going to take the bait and after a few seconds, she raises her hand. "I'll be your muse, Dr. Hasleberger." Spencer watches Aria get up from her chair and walk to the front of the class. _Aria, what are you doing?_

"Perfect." He places his hands gently on Aria's shoulders and moves her directly in the middle of the class, facing everyone. "Now, upon seeing Ms. Montgomery in front of you today, what are the first things you notice about her?" Different students mention things while viewing Aria like a centerpiece.

"Her eyes."

"Her height."

"Her clothing."

"Her smile."

"Her long hair."

Aria glances at every classmate as they quietly yell out the components of herself. She then looks over to Spencer who has said nothing. She keeps her gaze on her until Spencer finally speaks up.

"I notice her small stature." Aria smiles to herself as she shakes her head. _Great pick, Spencer._

"Now since you have noted the first things you notice about her, what does her appearance tell you?"

The first few moments, the class becomes silent. Nobody wanting to say anything or not knowing what to say. Aria begins to become anxious, standing in front of a quiet classroom while all eyes are peering at her.

"Her eyes. They're like big buttons. She has these round hazel eyes that tells me that she's very spontaneous, fun and always up for an adventure at point of time. Mischievous and sensual in equal measure, however, judging how she took the jump of being up there for the class to critique, I'm most likely right."

The class all turns to look at the person who busted out a synopsis first, Aria giving an appreciative yet surprised grin.

"Very good, observation, Ms. Hastings." Dr. Hasleberger wags his finger at her, approvingly agrees, "I would like to point out something to follow up. Many artists rely on their characters eyes to help show their personality; big, small, narrow, slanted, uneven. All those eye shapes mean something, it shows something to add to. So you noting that, Ms. Hastings, is a perfect example of how eyes play a role on our personality. Great job."

Spencer nods a thank you as Aria's smile lingers on her face as she walks back to her seat.

…

Aria unlocks and enters her dorm door, making a quick sweep to make sure someone didn't decide to move in while she was in her classes. Having a dorm all to yourself is very satisfying in the beginning. You get to do virtually anything you want without needing anyone's approval. It's like living in your own apartment, however, the main reason you want to have a roommate is because you want someone to talk to. Someone to make a best friend out of and experience things with. And if you asked Aria, that is way better than spending your living days and nights alone.

…

"You really surprised me, Spencer." Aria says as she sits in Spencer computer chair, swiveling around with her feet.

"Surprised you how?" Spencer asks with her eyes narrowed at her computer screen, sitting crossed leg on her bed.

"How _poetic_ you are." Aria gushes with her hands over her heart. "Her eyes, they're like big buttons." The smaller brunette recites as she spins around in the chair.

"Well, they are." Spencer nonchalantly responds, not thinking anything of it.

Aria stops spinning in her chair and gazes at Spencer, just smiling at how ridiculously indifferent she can be. Making everything seem so casual.

"I'm thinking of pizza tonight," Spencer says aloud, still glued to her computer screen, oblivious to Aria looking at her. "Papa Johns or Dominoes?"

"Move in with me."

"I think Papa Johns is better because of the special they have, 25% off your order."

"Spencer!" Aria yells out her name to get her undivided attention. Spencer looks up at her perplexed as to why she's calling out her name.

"Move _in_ with meeee." Aria drags out, scooting the computer chair to the end of Spencer's bed.

Spencer confusedly lets out a laugh with her eyebrows furrowed. "Move in with you? Why?"

"Because!" Aria whines as she leans her body over the foot of Spencer's bed, face down. "It's not as fun and serene as you say it is. _Yes_ , you have this big living space to yourself but I don't want to be by myself. I don't want to be alone." She pops her head up to Spencer still looking at her, "Besides I'm over here all the time anyways. Sooooo, why don't we just cut the middle man?" She lowers her voice, "Allow Sarah to stay here, invite whoever she wants, and you head upstairs with me. You know I'm not going to invite random people over," She says as she holds out a finger for every reason she gives, "I'm not going to throw a party, without your knowledge of course, I'm not going to be super annoying. You know me!"

"I mean you _do_ have 'annoying-like' qualities."

"Like what?" Aria raises her eyebrow in curiosity.

Spencer halfway closes her laptop as she adjusts her sitting position, "Like sending multiple texts at once and adding like 10 question marks to a sentence that isn't even a question."

"Hey…" Aria begins as she sits up.

"You also tend to mess with me while I'm busy doing things. Just like yesterday, while I was on the computer you kept poking me, drew on my hand and even tried to braid my hair with yours."

"I was _bored_!" Aria throws her hands in the air in self defense. "I had nothing to do!"

Spencer crosses her arms and tilts her head, squinted at Aria, "You know who you remind me of? Agnes from Despicable me, the little girl. That's who you are."

Aria crosses her arms with her mouth opened in a tickled way, "No I don't!"

Spencer chuckles, "Actually you do. Even when you have your hair in a bun with two strings of hair on the side of your face. I think you guys are long lost twins." Spencer nods, "That's your new name from now on, Agnes."

"Haha, that is a hideous name, though. Besides! She's like 6."

"You are 6."

"Fine, whatever!" Aria hops off the computer chair and jumps onto Spencer's bed. "Move in with me! Be my roommate!"

"I don't knooooooow." Spencer groans as she re-opens her laptop.

"What's the doubt?! You're always complaining about being here. You won't have to worry about any of that being my roomie!" Aria pleads, "C'mon!" Seeing Spencer is paying attention to her computer once again, Aria snatches the laptop out of Spencer's lap quickly, not allowing Spencer to react fast enough.

"Aria, stop." Spencer reaches for the laptop but Aria holds it farther away from her.

"Move in with me before they stuff me in a room with someone else. You know each dorm has three rooms. That means I could be stuffed with two other people!"

"Sounds like a personal problem" Spencer leans into Aria to retrieve her laptop but, once more, Aria pulls it back.

"Please." Aria asks in a more serious tone. She lowers down her head, widens her eyes and pouts her lips like a sad child getting ready to cry. "Pleeeeeeease?"

" _Fine_ , Agnes! I'll move in with you." Spencer huffs defeatedly. Aria's face of sadness turns into overwhelming joy as she hands Spencer her laptop. With such happiness, Aria jumps up and down on Spencer bed, clapping.

"Now what kind of toppings do you want? Do you want the one topping or two?" Spencer asks as she opens up her laptop on the Papa John's menu page.

"I don't care! We're gonna be roomies!"

 **Agnes, uh I mean Aria, and Spencer are now roommates! Or will be when they complete all the paper work. So let me get this correct. They share one class together and now are rooming together? Aha. This…This is when the adventures and the fun really begins. :)**

 **Review, fav, follow and tell your friends!**


	8. Chapter 8: 1st Day Of Rooming

CHAPTER #8: 1st Day of Rooming

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Aria huffs behind Spencer as they walk up the stairs and down the hallway into Aria's dorm. Upon passing the door, Aria drops a heavy box on the floor as her tired body falls on top of it, gasping for air.

"What the hell is inside these boxes? I mean it can't be much! Your room is small!"

Spencer slightly rolls Aria's slinked body to the side as she reads the label on the top of the box. "That's my clothes." She responds nonchalantly.

"Clothes?!" Aria quickly rises to her feet as she brushes the hair out her face. She spins to look the box, "How is tha-" She spins back towards Spencer. "How do you-How much clothes do you have on campus?!"

"Enough to last me the whole year." Spencer leads back into the hallway, "Besides you're no thrifter neither. I've seen your closet."

"Yeah but I reuse and recycle!" Aria chases behind after as they make their way back to Spencer's dorm. "We just lugged three total boxes of just clothes! That's a just _a little_ excessive, don't you think?"

"Nope." Spencer opens the staircase door and begins to jog down to the first floor, "I think it's totally sensible. You need to pick your weight up and stop complaining, Agnes."

…

Aria and Spencer enter Spencer's dorm to finish transferring the last box when they see Sarah in the kitchen, drinking a glass of milk. "Hey!"

"Hey, Sarah." Aria wobbles over to the kitchen and leans her stomach against the counter as Spencer continues to walk to her bedroom to grab the last box of assorted items.

Sarah nods her head in the direction of the leaving brunette as she steps closer to Aria. "So you're taking Spencer away, huh?"

"Yeah…I hope you're not upset about that or anything." Aria cautiously responds to Sarah, realizing that her only roommate is leaving her alone like how Katherine left her.

Sarah chuckles as she downs the last remains of her drink, "Honestly, I thought you were going to move in here. You basically lived here in the last week of school, helping Spencer and all. _But,_ looks like you two lovebirds are heading to the Montgomery suite upstairs."

Aria awkwardly laughs, "Lovebirds?"

Just then, Spencer emerges from the back room and enters the open area with an open, medium sized box. "Who's a lovebird?"

"Apparently, we are." Aria pushes herself off the counter. "Well, according to Sarah."

Spencer rolls her eyes as she walks to the corner of the kitchen bar. "Anything according to Sarah, you can bet is significantly off." She continues into the kitchen where the other two are huddled. "Well…this is the last box."

"I can't believe you're leaving me, Spencer." Sarah jokingly mocks, "Whatever should I do now?"

"Well, I don't know but good luck with everything." Spencer responds as she turns to Aria. "You're ready?"

Aria nods her head and Spencer makes her way out the door. Aria turns to Sarah and gives her a hug, "Bye! If you ever need anything, we'll be…you know, upstairs."

…

Aria unfolds a brown box lid as she digs in to retrieve Spencer's hangers and clothing and sets them on the couch before her. Spencer enters her new dorm with a brand new set of keys. "Went to the RA and switched out my keys at 156 for new keys at 209." She dangles the keys out in front of her. "It's official. I'm free from Sarah and now rooming with…" Spencer glances Aria over as she peers with Spencer's clothing in her hand, "Agnes."

"Aw whatever, Spence. You can complain _all_ you want but you know you want to room with me." Aria responds back as she puts Spencer's folded clothes in a pile. "If you didn't, you'd still be downstairs with Sarah."

Spencer scoffs as she hangs her key on the key hanger besides the door, she walks around to the fridge and opens it. To her dismay, the lights of the fridge present basically nothing in front of her. "Damnit!" Spencer groans to herself as her hand lands on her face.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I totally forgot about the food." Spencer closes the fridge door and turns the opposite direction, "I left my portion of the food downstairs with Sarah."

"What did you leave behind?"

"Well…small things like cereal, a little fruit here and there. I also am the one who brought the important stuff like cans and ice cream." Spencer leans against the sink, "I have to go back."

"No, leave it." Aria gets up from the couch and walks towards the opposite side of the bar. "I have to go grocery shopping anyways. If you want we can head over to Mariposa's right now and get that out of the way so we'll have food for tonight."

"How much do you have to spend?"

"A hundred."

Spencer ponders for a second, "I think I can match that." She nods.

"Alright," Aria and Spencer walk down the small hallway to their separate rooms to retrieve their wallets. The two brunettes throw on quick attire so they can hurry up and leave before rush hour. Aria walks out of her room with the normal, sad college look; hoodie and sweats. Spencer walks out with thin, pine green parka and jeans. Spencer shoots a confused look towards Aria who shoots one back at Spencer.

"You do know that like 39 degrees outside, right?" Spencer reminds the under dressed one. "39 degrees _Fahrenheit._ Even if it was 39 degrees Celsius, you still would be dressing inappropriate."

Aria looks down at her attire, "This is fine. It's not _that_ cold."

"Nope. No" Spencer shakes her head, "Put on a coat. You're not going to leave with a flimsy hoodie. If you leave and get sick, you'll get me sick and I… _I don't get sick._ So," Spencer nods her head back towards Aria's room, "Change."

"Since when did you birth me and become my mother?" Aria crosses her arms out in front of her, with her body shifting onto one leg.

"Since I moved in here with your well-being becoming my well-being." Spencer grabs Aria's shoulders, turns her around and gently shoves her into her room. "Now go change." Spencer walks over to living room, calling out, "Whose car are we taking?"

"Uhmmmm..." Aria yells back as she wiggles out of her hoodie. "It doesn't matter. I think I'm a better driver so we'll take my car."

"Uhm?!" Spencer throws her head back in skepticism, "You can hardly see over the steering wheel without a booster seat. We're taking _my_ car." Spencer walks over to the key hanger and grabs her keys.

Aria walks out of her room, taking her hair out of the hooded part of her red bomber jacket, "Excuse you. I'm a great driver, thank you _very much_."

"I bet you are. I parked over at the Penn Tower." Spencer looks down at the bundled up, smaller brunette. "I hope you're ready to walk."

…

After nearly a ten minute walk from their College Hall to the Penn parking garage, Spencer unlocks her super black, 2014 Nissan Altima and jumps into the driver's seat as Aria takes the passenger's. Upon putting on their seat-belt, as soon as Spencer starts the car, Aria immediately reaches for the control knobs and blasts on the heat.

"I absolutely _hate_ the winter." Aria rubs her hands together profusely. "Thank God it hasn't begin to really snow yet."

"Don't be so elated." Spencer enunciates her words as she leans backwards, facing the back window as she reverses out of her parking spot. "We're supposed to be getting snow in the next few weeks. As soon as late this week, I heard." Once fully out of the parking space, Spencer faces forward, changes the gear, and begins to drive out of the garage.

"I hate how far the parking garage is from the dorms. We have to walk basically ten minutes just to get to our cars."

"You can always take the bus."

"Yeah, like that's 100% reliable."

…

After a quick fifteen minute drive from the garage to the market, Spencer parallel parked between two cars into an open space by the sidewalk in front of the store. Walking up the ramp into the wide grey building, the two entered the market, greeted by a rush of cold air and the smell of fresh vegetables. With a $200 budget, Spencer comes up with the idea of splitting up. She'll be on the search for the fruits, vegetables and things of the like as Aria searches for the dairy, bread and others.

"Oh!" Aria turns back to Spencer as she remembered something. " _Coupons_. Don't forget to grab them. If it has a coupon, get it. If it doesn't have a coupon but a different brand does, put yours down and grab the one with a coupon." Aria walks towards the entrance wall where there is a shelf holding a stack of papers presenting the weekly sales. She grabs two pieces and walks back towards Spencer. "Coupons." She hands the paper to the taller brunette. "Find them and _use_ them."

"Alright, you frugal Sims character."

…

With a good amount of time separated, in Spencer's shopping cart, there is an assortment of products: Bananas, apples, carrots, kiwis, pineapples, pomegranates, and anything else sweet and healthy. When the meat section was approached, Spencer picked up: chicken tenderloins, steaks, salmon, and shrimp. After being pleased with her choices, she walks over to the spices section.

Being assigned to search for dairy, Aria collects: a full jug of low-fat milk, almond milk, two boxes of Yoplait yogurt (however, she couldn't help herself to grab a box of kids' GoGurt), mixture of cheeses, and eggs. Changing her sights from diary to grains, two loafs of wheat bread, Trix, Honey-Comb, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal completes her mission.

"Hmmm…I wonder what else I could use…" Aria ponders to herself as she pushes her cart down the cereal aisle.

…

Approximately ten minutes later, Aria stops and waits towards the checkout area of the market, anticipating to see Spencer emerge from one of the aisles in front of her. She proudly looks down into her cart filled with goodies as she mentally tallies how much her choices would cost her. A few minutes later, Spencer passes by the checkout lanes and sees Aria in her stuffed bomber jacket off to the side.

"You look like a red rubber ball from afar," Spencer comments Aria's appearance as she rolls her cart towards her. Spencer stops besides her and gawks into Aria's cart.

"Aria, why?"

Aria looks into Spencer's cart, noticing the slight difference between their choices in products.

"You're cart is basically filled with junk food. Again. Aria, why?"

"I get hungry." Aria defends herself. "And sometimes, I don't want to cook! Soooo," Aria picks up a Banquet box, "I pop in a TV dinner," She put the Banquet down and picks up Ramen Noodles, "I heat up some soup," She places that back down and picks up a Minute Maid container, "And when I'm thirsty, I get lemonade. _All_ with coupons." She boasts as she puts down the juice.

Spencer reaches into Aria's cart and pulls out one of her snacks, "You brought a family size bag of Hot Cheetos?" She criticizes. Aria snatches the bag from Spencer's grip,

"You have _no_ say about my Hot Cheetos." She throws the bag back and waves her hands over the cart, "Or the rest of my goodies." She holds her head up high and walks away towards an available checkout line.

…

Just finished unpacking all the groceries, Aria sits on the armrest of her couch as she looks over the receipt.

"$139, Spence!" She yells aloud, "We saved $50 with coupons!" Spencer emerges from her room with her laptop as Aria waves the receipt out in front of her. "What did I tell you? Coupons saves lives." Aria gets up from the armrest and walks towards the kitchen, placing the receipt inside a drawer. "What is going to be for dinner tonight?"

"I dunno." Spencer plops herself on the couch. "Probably something light. I'm not all that hungry."

Aria bends down to a lower cabinet that holds the pots and pans. She grabs a medium size pan and places it on the stove. She opens the refrigerator and grabs leftover Chinese food she had sitting for a couple of days.

"You feel like some rice?"

…

Spencer feels the heat whirling from the fan inside her laptop on her stomach as she lays on her back on the couch. The smell of fried rice consumes the air as Spencer's eyes concentrate on the computer screen.

" _Attention is a powerful thing. Like I said, it shapes your reality. So, I guess I'd like to pose that question to you. If you could control somebody's attention, what would you do with it?_

Her right thumb rests on her bottom lip with her other had rested above the keyboard as she listens to the speaker's voice flow inside of her earbuds connected to the laptop.

" _And to the fella over there with the hella good hair, won't you come on over baby we could shake, shake, shake…Yeeeeaaah-ooooooh!"_

Aria belts her vocals along with the music playing from her iPhone, swaying her body from side to side as she grabs two plates and scoops a decent size amount of her edible creation unto each. She continues to sing and jump in the rhythm of the song until it ends, leaving her feeling complete. She turns the knob on the stove to off and she holds the two plate in her hands with her pinky and ring finger grasping onto two spoons.

Upon seeing Aria walk around to her side of the couch, Spencer pauses her video, removes her ear buds and gets up from her lying position to a seated position with her laptop on her lap.

"Shrimp fried rice with the soy sauce." Aria presents, passing a plate and spoon to Spencer. "Something light but will fill you up."

Spencer thanks Aria as she observes over the cooked food.

"It's not poisonous, Spencer." Aria rolls her eyes, "Eat it."

"Just making _sure_. Hopefully I won't choke on uncooked food." Spencer scoops up and tastes a small amount of rice as she leans back into the couch cousin, nodding her head. "Good stuff. Thanks."

"You're _welcome_." Aria beams as she begins to eat her own food. She nods in the direction of Spencer's computer. "What are you watching?"

Spencer unplugs the headphones, "It's a TedTalk. It's where people talk to a crowd of listeners and just talk about different subjects. It could be from educational to inspiring to funny to interactive; they cover just about anything. This is one is called, "The art of misdirection by Apollo Robbin." She buffers the video to the beginning and adjusts the volume.

" _Do you think it's possible to control someone's attention? Even more than that, what about predicting human behavior? I think those are interesting ideas. For me, that would be the perfect superpower, actually kind of an evil way of approaching it. But for myself, in the past, I've spent the last 20 years studying human behavior from a rather unorthodox way: picking pockets. When we think of misdirection, we think of something as looking off to the side, when actually the things right in front of us are often the hardest to see, the things that you look at every day that you're blinded to."_

"Oooh, so he's a thief."

"I mean, it's not about the fact he pickpockets, it's the whole science behind it. Anyone can take something without the other person knowing, but it's the constant perception flaw in the human behavior that make him and others so good at it."

" _For example, how many of you still have your cell phones on you right now?... Great. Double-check. Make sure you still have them. You've looked at them a few times today, but I'll ask you a question. Without looking at it directly yet, can you remember the icon in the bottom right corner?"_

"….Mines should be my banking app." Spencer tries to recollect as she takes another spoonful of rice.

"Damn….I think mines is twitter?" Aria looks at her locked phone, trying to photographically remember her icon placement.

" _Bring them out, check, and see how accurate you were. How'd you do? Show of hands. Did we get it?"_

Both Spencer and Aria reach to their sides for their phones, unlock it and look at their icons in the bottom right hand corner as the speaker asked. Spencer approvingly nods her head as she locks her phone again, successfully remembering the icon. Aria, on the other hand, didn't remember the icon. "Man, I was close. It was Instagram." She locks her phone and tosses it on the empty cushion besides her.

" _Now that you're done, close them down. Every phone has something in common. No matter how you organize the icons, you still have a clock on the front. So, without looking at your phone, what time was it? You just looked at your clock, right?"_

Aria laughs, feeling embarrassed, "I have no idea what the time was. I didn't even bother to check it."

"Me neither." Spencer turns to face Aria and points her spoon at her, " _See_. Perception flaw. That's how they get you."

" _Interesting idea. Let's take that a step further with a game of trust. Close your eyes. I realize I'm asking you to do that while you just heard there's a pickpocket in the room, but close your eyes."_

As if the speaker was standing right in front of the girls, they both close their eyes as directed.

" _Now, you've been watching me for about 30 seconds. With your eyes closed, what am I wearing? Make your best guess. What color is my shirt? What color is my tie? Now open your eyes. Show of hands, were you right?"_

"A black suit and…" Aria searches for the words as her brain tries to paint the picture of the man for her. "And orange shirt and black tie?" Aria shrugs her shoulders with a cringing look.

"A black suit, purple shirt and stripped black and grey tie." Spencer answers matter of factly.

" _Now open your eyes. Show of hands, were you right?"_

Aria scrutinizes the other brunette, "How did you remember so distinctively?" she asked partly surprised.

"Studying the field I'm studying, it pays to be observant. Besides, my mom taught me since I was younger to mentally take pictures of everyone you see. One day, there'll be a situation in which you'd be asked to describe a person. You'll be no help if you didn't recall anything because you ever so _blindly_ skimmed over the person. Things like that can save your life in the long run."

" _But attention is what steers your perceptions, it's what controls your reality. It's the gateway to the mind. If you don't attend to something, you can't be aware of it. But ironically, you can attend to something without being aware of it. For example, the cocktail effect: You're in a party, having conversations with someone, and yet you can recognize your name without realizing you were listening to that."_

As the nine minute video plays on, the speaker demonstrates in front of the live crowd, using a real crowd member, how easily one can be distracted and robbed of every belonging. However, the smooth nine minutes turns into fifteen as the real magic begins with the speaker sneakily taking the volunteer's watch, money and wallet. Aria and Spencer constantly rewinds to see if they can catch the trick in motion. When they couldn't, they would rewind and put it in slow motion. Even slowed down, there were some tricks that were so fluid in hand motion, you just couldn't catch it. This experience sparks Spencer's attention.

"I want to see if I can achieve that level of distraction." Spencer sets the laptop on the glass table in front of the couch as she gets up to wash out her plate.

"You want to become a pick-pocketor?" Aria turns her head to the side, confused. "How are you going to be studying law and stealing from people on the side?"

"Hey. The biggest criminals are the ones with a suit and tie." Spencer scrubs her plate. "Besides I wouldn't be _stealing_. It's just so interesting how you can predict human behavior like that."

"So you want to deceive people."

"No, Aria. How would I be deceiving someone if I am telling no lies?" Spencer dries off her plate and puts it back into the cabinet. "That man literally said no lie. All he did was ask questions and those simple questions disabled the person's whole awareness. You cannot tell me that's not interesting."

"Yeah, if you were a crook." Aria unlocks her phone.

Spencer grabs a can of coconut water out the fridge and walks behind the couch. "I'm going to call it in for the night,' she reaches over and picks up her phone laying on the arm rest. "Are you going to be using the laptop for anything?"

"Nope. I'm going to head in too." Aria locks her phone, puts it inside her sweats' pocket, and gets up from the couch with her plate. Spencer walks around to the front of the couch to get her laptop.

"Question." She asks as she closes her computer and places it under her left arm.

Aria stops besides the taller brunette. "Yeah?"

"What canned veggies did you use for this rice?"

"Oh no, that was with the rice I already had. This was leftover Chinese, I just re-fried it."

"Ooooh." Spencer nods. "Well, thanks for the food. It was good." Spencer walks the opposite direction of Aria to go to her room. "Night!"

"Goodnight!" Aria walks inside the kitchen to the sink to clean her plate. After a few moments of a quick and through cleaning, Aria dries her plate and places it inside the correct cabinet. She turns off the kitchen light and living room light and makes her way to her room.

…

Aria opens her room door and opens Spencer's door directly across from hers.

"Give me my phone back, Spencer." Aria demands with her palm out.

Spencer bursts out into an uncontained laughter as she reaches over to her night stand, grabs Aria's phone and hands it back to her. "Flawed human behavior!" Spencer barely utters out within her chuckles as Aria walks out of her room.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I decided to make up the lost time with nearly a 4k worded chapter. Niceeee and loooong for my favorite readers :D**

 **With the ink dried on the official room transfer, Aria and Spencer are now roommates. And what is the first step of rooming with someone? Making sure the fridge is packed and no one goes hungry.**

 **Next chapter will take place a month from now so the girls will be used to each other's living conditions.**

 **Word around the street is there is supposed to be this party taking place, hosted by one of the organizations held at school.**

 **Normally it wouldn't matter but…**

 **The girls are** _ **kinda**_ **obligated to go because one of them** _ **kinda**_ **signed them up to be a part of the club.**

 **I wonder how that plays out…**

 **Review, favorite and follow!**


	9. Chapter 9: ARIA, WHY!

**:D**

 **Let's read on, shall we?**

CHAPTER #9: ARIA, WHY?!

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

A month into being roommates, Aria and Spencer have gotten along for the most part. Living with each other, your most typical average rooming situations have occurred. Like:

 _ **Sharing One Bathroom.**_

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

" **Aria! What the hell?! You've been in there for more than an hour!" Spencer yells into the frame of the locked door. "I told you I had to use the bathroom thirty minutes ago!"**

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

" **Aria!"**

 **The door swings opens with a robed Aria emerging from the steamy hot bathroom with earbuds in her ears. She's surprised to see a fuming Spencer.**

" **What?" She removes an earbud out.**

 **Spencer's eye twitches while her face is consumed with anger. "What the hell where you doing in there?** _ **MASTURBATING**_ **?"**

 **Aria throws her head back in confusion and laughs, "No. Although, I** _ **was**_ **taking care of myself." Aria shrugs, "I need at least an hour of pampering to keep me** _ **nice and smooth**_ **."**

" **Glad to know you're pampering yourself while I was about to** _ **PISS ON MYSELF."**_

 _ **Dealing With Only One TV.**_

 **Sitting comfortably on the couch in the living room, Aria grabs her phone and goes through her social media apps before her show starts.**

" **Move over" Spencer comes out of her room with also her phone in her hand. "Give me the remote."**

 **Aria quickly grabs the remote before Spencer approaches the couch. "No!** _ **Girls**_ **is about to come on!"**

 **Spencer jumps onto the couch, "You've been on this TV, watching your shows back to back. Now it's my turn. Put on AMC,** _ **Better Call Saul**_ **is about to come on."**

" **No!"**

 **Spencer bewilderingly looks at Aria who is not about to give up the remote ever so easily. "Aria!" She looks at her phone, "I have two minutes! You can watch Girls on demand! Put it on!" Spencer lunges for the remote but Aria pulls it back even farther.**

" **But I have to watch it on time! I liveblog!"**

" **I liveblog too!" Spencer lunges for Aria again. Aria quickly waddles back into the cushion of armrest,**

" **Since when did you have a Tumblr?"**

" **Since forever. Now gimme!" Aria curls up into a ball, tightly holding the remote in her grasps. Spencer throws her phone to the side and jumps on top of Aria, using her hands to try to pull apart her arms.**

" **Arrrrrriaaaaa! Just give me the damn remote!"**

" **Nooooo, Spencer!"**

 **Spencer straddles Aria and uses all her might to unlink her arms. After a few moments of absolute struggle, Spencer unhooks them and goes for the remote being held onto for dear life.**

" **Spencer, stop!"**

" **Let go, Aria!"**

 **While Spencer has Aria's arm in the air, she tickles the smaller brunette which causes her to squeal in laughter, dropping the remote onto the floor to clutch her sides. Spencer immediately dives for the remote and changes the channel right on time to hear,** _ **"Previously on Better Call Saul."**_

 **Out of breath, Aria glares at the satisfied Spencer. "That was cheating and you know it."**

" **Shhhh!"**

 _ **Spencer Turning Into A Klepto.**_

 **Coming home after a long day out, Aria unlocks her dorm door to find Spencer sitting by the bar on her phone.**

" **Hey!" Spencer greets the brunette shuffling inside.**

" **Hey, Spence."**

" **Long day?"**

" **Yeah. I'm just going to take a shower and take a nap." Aria unstraps the bag off her shoulders.**

" **Oh, let me help." Spencer lifts herself off the chair and reaches for Aria's bag, "How was your day?" She intently asks while simultaneously reaching into Aria's coat's right side pocket, grabbing her phone. She sneakily places it in her pocket as she helps Aria remove her coat.**

" **Thank you and it was a lot. I'm just so done right now." Aria tiredly responds to Spencer's generosity to help her untwine.**

" **No problem." As Spencer hands Aria her jacket, she pats her on her back, "Go ahead and get your rest. You're probably exhausted, you poor thing." At the same time, she reaches into Aria's back pocket and swiftly but softly takes her wallet and hold it behind her back.**

 **Aria groans as she stumbles towards her room, oblivious to being swindled by the increasingly learning Spencer. Spencer walks back to her chair at the bar and chuckles silently to herself as she holds in her hands Aria's phone and wallet.**

" **I think you should treat yourself to a snack, Ms. Hastings. Oh, I think I shall." Spencer talks to herself as she puts Aria's things to the side and walks to the fridge for a sweet treat for all that hard work.**

 _ **Miscommunications With Food.**_

 **Craving the remaining of the strawberry banana nectar juice she left for herself yesterday, Aria excitedly opens the room of her dorm, throws her things down on the counter and skips over to the fridge. Opening the fridge as if it was the door to Narnia, Aria places her eyes where the drink should have been.**

 _ **Where the drink should have been….**_

 _ **Where the drink should have been….**_

 _ **Where the drink should have been!**_

" **Where's my strawberry banana?!"**

 **Aria straightens her face, knowing it better not be somewhere it should not be. She walks over to the trashcan and sees her empty drink where it should not be.**

 _ **Where it should not be….**_

 _ **Where it should not be….**_

 _ **Where it should not be!**_

 **Aria marches over to Spencer's room and barges in without knocking.**

" **Uhm, excuse me-" Spencer removes one of her earbuds, rudely interrupted by a sudden intrusion.**

" **Excuse me!" Aria howls out, "Why is my strawberry banana drink in the garbage?!" Shaking the empty bottle in front of her.**

"… **.Because it's finished…?"**

" **And** _ **why**_ **is it finished?!"**

" **Because I finished it?" Spencer sits up from her peaceful laying position, "I mean, c'mon. That is quite evident."**

 **Aria hurls the empty bottle at Spencer, "That was mines, you baboon!" She disgustedly stomps out of Spencer's room. "Go buy another one!" She yells out.**

But when they are not fighting over remotes, bathroom time and claimed juices, their time together isn't that bad.

Coming from Spencer….She actually likes having Aria around.

When she's not being bothered or annoyed by the small brunette, there is one thing that Aria does that she never had someone do to her before.

 _Show interest._

And not just any interest.

 _Interest in what she's doing._

 _Actual, genuine interest in what she likes._

In the relationships Spencer has been in, both non-romantic and romantic, she's so used to being in competition with other people that no one shows interests in her off-time hobbies because, normally, they're trying to get ahead of her. But with Aria….it's different.

 **With Spencer laying vertically in the middle of her bed and Aria laying horizontally by Spencer's feet, the two girls lay in silence while Aria is reading one of her books she checkout out from the library and Spencer typing away at her computer. After hearing her fingers fly over the keyboard, Aria bookmarks her spot and closes her book. She gets up and scoots herself closer to Spencer to see what she's up to.**

" **What are you doing?" Aria asks as she peers over Spencer's screen, seeing a whole bunch of symbols, colors and letters.**

" **Nothing" Spencer nonchalantly responds as she focuses on the line she's on.**

" **Doesn't seem like nothing." She snuggles up against Spencer's arm. "For the past hour and few days, you've been on that computer non-stop."**

 **Spencer sighs, becoming frustrated not with Aria but with being stuck on her application. "I'm trying to teach myself how to code."**

" **Code?"**

" **Yeah." She glances over at Aria for a split second before she looks back at her computer. "Coding is what makes it possible for us to create computer software, apps and websites. Your browser, your OS, the apps on your phone, Facebook, and this website, they're all made with code. Without it, we'll still be on the Commodore '95."**

" **You want to be a software engineer?" Aria raises her eyebrow, "I thought Law was your thing."**

" **No, it's just a nice skill to learn. Besides, living in a tech savvy world, it's good to know how to do more than just open a browser and type in Microsoft word."**

 **Aria nods as she observes the laptop screen. "The only way I've ever had my hand in coding is to fix my Tumblr and Myspace layout." She giggles to herself which causes Spencer to chuckle as well. "But other than that, I'm definitely a stranger to that field."**

" **Yeah…this certainly is time consuming, I'll tell you that."**

"… **.Show me?" Aria looks up at Spencer who looks at her as well.**

 **Spencer is kind of taken back by the curiosity of Aria. She expected her to dismiss it and go back to her reading. "Really?"**

" **Yeah." She nods acceptingly, "You gotta learn something new every day, right?"**

 **Still slightly surprised, Spencer adjusts her sitting position and opens a new tab. Setting up a fresh slate for Aria, Spencer passes the laptop to the smaller brunette to begin.**

" **Ok," She points to the screen, "This is HTML which is the acronym for Hypertext Markup Language. It's a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects on web pages. You're probably the most familiar with this from customizing your Tumblr page."**

 **Aria nods, moving the mouse over the HTML templates, "Yeah. I'm pretty much a pro at that."**

" **Alright, so then click over here…" She points to a different part of the screen, "And lets work on CSS. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. HTML provides the structure of the page whereas CSS provides the visual and aural layout."**

 **For the next half hour, Spencer teaches Aria through different levels of coding, which, Aria is actually enjoying herself. After the day's session ends, Aria hops off the bed and tells Spencer's about the engagement she made prior. Still laying on her bed as Aria gets ready and heads out for the door, Spencer stops her for a moment,**

" **Why were you so interested in what I was doing?" Spencer leans against her door frame and crosses her arms, "I know coding is pretty boring," She forces out a laugh.**

 **Aria shakes her head, allow a smile to cross her face, "Other than school, I see you have so much dedication and put time into it. I just wanted to know how it was done. What makes it so interesting to you? Besides, you allow me to vent my feelings about the books I read so I think it's a fair trade."**

 **Spencer nods her head, appreciating Aria's answer. "Well, have fun while you're out." She waves her hand.**

 **Alright! Bye!" Aria waves back and leaves the dorm. Leaving Spencer with a smile on her face.**

Now Spencer isn't the easiest person to woo but little things like that definitely go a long way for her. Growing up in a household of competition and ' _greatness_ ', It's not often that she's used to people being as compassionate rather than cut throat. Sitting on the couch, looking at the TV but actually off in her own thoughts, Spencer hears her name being called out, muffled in the distance.

" _Helllloooo_. Spencer."

"Huh?" The brunette is ripped out of her daydreaming. "What happened?"

"I have something to tell you." Aria sits on her knees besides Spencer, looking concerned. Spencer immediately recognizes the look on Aria's face and straightens up.

"What? What's going on?"

Aria wrings her hands as she forces out a smile, "Sooooo, I was walking through campus and today was the club exhibition day, as you know."

"Yeah…"

"And they had all these cool clubs like _Glee Cub_ and _Knitting Club_ and _Bird Watching_ -"

"Bird watching has never been a cool club but continue." Spencer cuts off Aria, hoping she'll get to the point.

"….And I kinda signed us up for a club." Aria quickly releases as she ducks her head down in anxiousness.

"You signed us up for _Bird Watching_?!" Spencer jumps up not believing what she's hearing.

"Nonono!" Aria waves Spencer back down, "Not for _that_." She lowers her voice down, "I signed us up for the Upenn's _Blitz Society_."

Spencer's head shakes with her mouth open, not producing any words. She shakes her hands in the air in silence for about two seconds before responding. "First of all, what the _hell_? Why sign us up for anything? Correction! Why sign _me_ up for anything?!"

"It's a really cool club!" Aria assures Spencer, "I was talking to this guy, who I must say is _super_ cute, and he was telling me about this Blitz Society and I thought we'd give it a try!"

"Aria!" Spencer stretches her hand outward, standing speechless.

"Anyways there is a party tonight and wekindahavetogo." She quickly lets out. If you're going to rip off the Band-Aid, you might as well do it all in one shot.

"Wha-wha-wha-Ok! Back up!" Spencer shuts her eyes as she rubs her temples, "What the hell about this freaking Blitz Society that made it _soooo_ interesting that you had to put my name down?"

Aria lights up in excitement as she begins to explain, "Ok!" she adjusts her seating position, "It's like…like we're like Upenn's agents. At set sessions at 8pm, we get to stroll the campus and it turns into this huge war zone! It's like _Call of Duty_ except you don't die when you get shot!" She beams

"You don't even like Call of Duty!" Spencer irritably crosses her arms.

"I _know_ but Mike used to play it all the time and sometimes I would watch." Aria shrugs. "But think of it this way. It's just like playing cops and robbers how we did when we were kids except we're adults running around having fun!" Aria reaches for Spencer's arm and massages it, "C'mon Spencer. At least try it out for me?" She pouts, "If you don't like it, we'll drop it. I promise."

…

Each getting ready in their room and bathroom, Spencer still has doubts about this club Aria took the liberty to sign _her_ up for.

"I thought you said this was a party?" Spencer yells out as she puts on her jeans.

"It is!" Aria yells back, "Not like a _party_ party but a lobby party. That's what they call it."

"So we're going to run around outside with Nerf guns in the cold of late February? That sound fun and negligent."

"No, we're not going to be outside. We're going to be in the Gym building. We have the basement and whole first floor for this."

"How many damn people are in this club?" Spencer walks to the bathroom where Aria is getting herself ready. Spencer halts upon first glance at Aria. Wearing a slim fit, dark blue long sleeve shirt with black skinny sweats that reads UPENN in big white letters on the side. She puts her hair up in a loose top knot bun before turning over to Spencer.

"It looks like you're about to fight someone." Spencer notes Aria's appearance.

"Yeah." Aria begins to jog in place like Rocky, "I'm about to kick some ass!"

Spencer shakes her head and looks down at her own outfit: A grey long sleeve cotton shirt and dark denim skinny jeans. Also eyeing her outfit, Aria pulls Spencer into the bathroom.

"You want to put your hair up. It'll be too much of a hassle to run around with your hair in your face." Aria grabs an extra hair-tie and pulls Spencer's back to her. On her tippy-toes, she tries to do Spencer's ponytail for her but is having a bit of trouble because of the height difference.

Noticing Aria's little dilemma, Spencer turns around, "It's okay, Agnes. I got it."

" _Nooooo_!" Aria spins Spencer back around. "It got this." She pulls Spencer farther back as she hops on top of the closed toilet, using it as a stepping stool to fasten Spencer's high ponytail. "There." She pats Spencer on the top of the head. "My work here is done."

Spencer checks the ponytail in the mirror as Aria hops down. "Well look at _that_. The toddler has a use after all."

Aria slaps Spencer's arm, "One day this toddler is gonna knock you out." She shakes her fists at the taller brunette.

"What time are we supposed to be at this " _lobby party_ "?" Spencer asks as she checks her phone.

"At seven."

Spencer shows Aria the time, "Its 6:48pm"

"Shit!" Aria breathes out as she grabs Spencer's phone to get a better view. She whisks out the bathroom to her room as she hurries to grab her jacket and shoes, "We gotta leave now since the gym is on the other side of the damn campus!"

…

Sitting inside the open boy's locker room at 7:10pm, Aria, Spencer, and about fifteen other students sit while four members and a guy paces back and forth giving the 411 about the club.

"This is the _Blitz Society; A_ live action role-play." The assumed head in charge begins, "For those of you who don't know what role-playing is, it's just like sex except its action." His comparison warrants a few laughs from the crowd causing him to continue, "For those of you who _don't_ know what role-playing in sex is, I'm not going to explain it to you. _But…_ I might just show a few." He winks at Aria, causing Aria to slightly blush and Spencer to roll her eyes.

"Basically, it's " _Let's Pretend_ " for grownups. As in any role-playing game, each player takes on the role of a fictional character. You play your character much as you would in an improvisational theater setting, with a strong knowledge of who you are and what you want out of life, but with no script. Together, you and a group of other players create an imaginary world and a multitude of stories." He paces in front of the small crowd. "The emphasis here is often on dramatic role-playing and interaction between players. That means you have to know how to communicate. Communication is the key to this."

While the head guy in charge talks, Spencer leans into Aria and whispers, "You signed us up to play make believe?"

"Shut up, Spence." She nudges, "You're gonna like it."

"I've playing for quite a while. For those who don't know me, my name is Noel Khan and I'm one of the top guys in this society. The Blitz Society runs several games every month. Each game is run by a different GM teams, who are all Society members or alums. Sometimes people run prewritten games, but usually GM teams will write their own game. Consequently, the genres range from spy thrillers to military science fiction to high fantasy, and games last anywhere from several hours to a few days. You don't have to be in it during all the days, of course."

Noel walks over to a cart of assortments and wheels it to the center. "Now," He leans against the front with his arms propped up. "This isn't a "come play all" kind of club. This is recruit only. That means you have to prove yourself worthy of joining us. That's what this lobby party is all about folks!" He scans the faces of all the hopefuls. "If you make it, you'll be notified and will be a part of the strong men and women who make up this society. If you _don't_ make it, you can go ahead and join that other club " _Human vs Zombies"_ that takes anyone." He waves his hand in the air. "Difference between them and us? They use little Nerf squishy dart guns while we…" He picks up a black pistol from the cart. "We use these bad boys." The reveal of the weapon choice causes a pleasing reaction the crowd from claps to yelled out comments.

Spencer and Aria's eyes widen at the sight of the pistol that Noel is holding.

"Holy _shit_ , that looks real!" Aria whispers to Spencer.

"What the _fuck_ did you sign us up for, Aria?" Spencer hushed back in response.

"We use Airsoft guns. These suckers look pretty life-like and shoot great." He rotates the pistol in his hands, "They're Co2 operated and we use these rubber pellets." He holds up a handful of little pellets. "These fire 250 fps which means when you get shot with them from a distance, it feels like a pinch."

He turns to look at the two girls and two guys standing behind him "How would you guys say the shots feel like?"

One of the female members voices her opinion, "Most of the time it's like being flicked. Though some of the more evil ones are like someone jabbing you with a pin."

The other members agree with her as a male member speaks out, "To me, getting shot feels like _disappointment_ and _failure_."

Making everyone laugh including Noel, he directs his attention to the crowd again, "But that's the whole point. _Don't. Get. Shot_." He reminds the crowd as he fiddles with the weapon in his hand, "You get shot, you die. You die, you're no longer an accessory to your team." He puts the gun down into the cart and claps his hands. " _Alright_! We're going to split you guys into teams and brief you for your first mission."

As Noel separates the crowd, Spencer leans into a very eager Aria, "What the fuck did you sign us up for, Aria?!"

 **Oooooh. Went into a whole different direction!**

 **This looks like fun, don't you think?**

 **Nothing brings a friendship tighter than defending each other with Airsoft guns.**

 **You have an excited Aria and an anxious Spencer about to face off in a battle, what will happen?**

 **Fav, follow and revieeeeeew, my loves!**


	10. Chapter 10: Sparia Game Face

**A special thanks to Abi117 :) Thank you for checking out this story and liking it so much! Welcome to the family! :D**

 **And now!**

 **Let the games begin!**

 ***Badly whistles Rue's whistle from The Hunger Games and ends up spitting everywhere***

CHAPTER #10: Sparia Game Face

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

"Alright! This is your RPG scenario…" Noel begins his briefing as he stand in front of a smaller crowd. Earlier he split the prospects into three groups of five, Aria & Spencer being on the same team. While he is informing this team, another colleague is preparing their opposite opponents on how to beat them. "You guys are _'The Right Siders'_ also known as _'RS'_ ; one of the most promising, up and coming crews in this town called, _'El Gym_ '. One of the things that you guys are well known for is your quality of products. Your product..." He reaches inside his cart and pulls out a small baggie filled with treats. "Are these suckers."

" _Fruit Roll-Ups_?" Someone sarcastically calls out causing the group to chuckle.

"No, this isn't Fruit Roll-Ups, _dumbass_." Noel narrows his eyes at the random kidster. "In this world, to you and everyone else, this is LSD. That's what you will know it as. Acid, Dots, California Sunshine, whatever the hell you want to call it." Noel shakes the baggie in front of him, "What makes you guys so authoritative is the fact that you guys know how to sniff out the good shit from the poor shit." He drops the baggie back into the cart, dusting his hands, "That brings me to your 1st problem. _"LS"._ Also known as " _The Left Siders_ " also known as your competition; the same people who want you guys _out_. Their whole game plan is to steal your goods and profit for themselves. That's when things get hairy."

Noel grabs a chair, spins it around, and sits on it with the back against his chest, "Prior to this meeting, one of your guys and one of their guys were doing a deal. Shit got real, the drugs were dropped and in the midst of everything, their member was killed. Now it's vengeance. The drugs were dropped in various parts of the basement and half of the first floor. Your goal is to find and collect them all. If that means to raid the other team, so be it." Noel reaches into the cart and picks up a handful of yellow bandanas, throwing one at each person. "This is your team color. Tie it as a headband and get to know your members. The LS headband color is purple, easy to remember. To add to the chaos, people in blue headband are the police. This room here is your headquarters. They don't know this location and you don't know theirs. This is where you guys are going to stash the baggies you find. You have a total of 1 hour to find and stash the 12 baggies that are placed all over." Noel leans forward into the chair, "That means doing _whatever means necessary_."

Getting up and walking to the front of the cart, Noel picks up the Airsoft Pistols and pre-loaded clips, "Quickly. This is your weapon." Trying to have a quick course on how to use the weapons, Noel points at the mechanisms, "This is your safety. When it's clicked like this, you can't shoot. This is your magazine" He holds up a fully loaded clip, "It holds sixteen rounds. When you need to reload, grab another pre-loaded mag, slip it out like this," He demonstrates by removing the magazine and adding in another one, "and lock in the new one like this. Cock the slider back and you're ready to shoot." He walks up to the crew members and passes out a pistol and two magazines to each person. "If you get shot, you're dead _but_ if you get shot in the leg or arm, you can still live except you'll be without that limb. If you get overpowered by your enemies, they can hold you hostage and do whatever they want with you until you're rescued. Weapons can be taken if a person dies or is taken hostage. Now, other than your enemies, you have to look out for the cops. Police have not only guns but also handcuffs that just so happen to look like some rope. If you get arrested, you're automatically out."

Aria raises her hand, stopping Noel from continuing. He gives her the floor, "The cops have pistols too?"

" _Obviously_ , Aria…" Spencer mumbles under her breath low enough for Aria to hear.

"Pistols? _No_." Noel chuckles as he nods his head, "Shotguns? _Yes_."

"Shotguns?!" Aria, Spencer and the rest of the members cry out in pure and utter shock.

"It's a tactical weapon," Noel defines to the sudden worrisome crowd, "More of a reason to stay _away_ from them. They're going to be patrolling the halls. You can walk past them with no consequences. They don't know anything about anything that's going on. But the moment you guys start getting trigger happy, they can arrest you. If you decide to become a bandit and "threaten their safety", they can shoot you with 300 fps. It will sting so don't fuck with them."

" _Holy shit_." Spencer looks at Aria with eyes of disbelief. Aria doesn't catch Spencer's gaze because she's busy about to ask another question.

"Yeah?"

"If we kill a cop...can we take their gun and handcuffs?"

Spencer tilts her head at Aria with even more amazement from Aria's choice of a question. _Aria...What?_

"Actually...you can. But this isn't hunt police day. You guys have a goal and must stick to it." Noel looks around at the yellow-headed bandits, "Any other questions?"

Everyone stays silent, prompting Noel to clap his hands, "Alright, everyone introduce yourself to each other. Meet your crew members, devise a plan and I'm going to check on the others and we'll get started." Noel nods at the players and walks out the room.

"This is about to be so fun!" Aria quietly squeals, bouncing in her chair.

Spencer shakes her head, eyes still forward not pleased by a long shot. "Yeah, being shot with a shotgun sounds orgasmic."

…..

The RS group silently walk the first floor hallway, coming across a crossroad.

"Everyone take a path," A male member whispers to his group, "Two is going to have to pair together."

"We got it," Aria volunteers standing next to Spencer.

"Alright, good. Remember, if you guys see any cop patrolling, hide your weapon and act causal."

The team nods in an agreement before they all split their separate ways. Aria and Spencer take the path going right, scanning the floors in hopes of finding a baggie.

"Are you sure they're on the floors?" Spencer leans into Aria with a hushed whisper.

"He said they were dropped so they have to be. Just…." Aria stops and ponders in thought. "Imagine how things would fall if you were running?"

"Well," Spencer turns around facing the path they just came from. "Let's say you were running full speed and hit that corner we just turned at..." Spencer traces the floor with her eyes as she imagines a person running and slipping as they turn the corner. "It would fly off in the direction opposite of the body. So that means it would be stuffed in the corners somewhere."

In the hallway, the walls are held up by different kinds of equipment, so taking Spencer's advice, Aria bends down as she sweeps the bottom crevices of tables, desks, carts and things of that sort. "Aha!" Aria silently gasps as she reaches her hand underneath a large crate. She hops to her feet waggling the baggie in front of her. "Look who got her first bag of drugs? _Oooooh_."

 _POP! POP!_

Two sudden shots ring out as a shooter aims and misses both Aria and Spencer.

" _Shit!_ " Aria and Spencer duck their head down as they scurry to the opposite side of the crate, putting a barrier between them and a shooter.

"Where did that come from?!" Aria anxiously asks as she stuffs the baggie in her bra.

Spencer pokes her head from the side to see where the shooter was. "I don't know, I don't see anyone."

"Damn, they're starting to unload already? Alright," Aria shakes her head as she cocks back the slider to her pistol, "Let's play. C'mon, follow me."

…..

Aria and Spencer quietly scale the walls with three other male members, approaching what they believe to be LS territory. Going through several close calls with the enemy, everyone is locked and loaded with their guns drawn. With Aria and Spencer in the middle, they follow the lead while another person cabooses, checking for a potential ambush in the opposite direction.

"Stopstopstop." Scott, the guy in the front, put his hand up to halt the group from moving any farther. He hears talking in the distance from what he hopes are the target's headquarters. "Aria. Max." He signals the two to hold up the opposite wall of the incoming door they're about to approach. Aria tip toes her way to the other side, looking for clearance from Scott. He jerks his head forward and the team begins to creep closer to the voices.

Just in that moment, someone walks out the door, immediately spotting the RS group.

" _Black! Black! Code black!_ " The guy scrambles to run back into the room, dogging the barrage of bullets being fired at him. The door slams as RS runs to a different hiding spots, aiming their weapons at the door.

"We got you surrounded!" Max yells to the LS team. "There is nowhere for you to go!"

"Open the door, bitch!" Jackson, another RS member, hollers out.

"Fuck you, Jackson!" A muffled voice responds back.

" _EVERYONE FREEZE_!"

The group whip their heads behind them down the hall to see two cops pointing their shotguns at the party.

" _DON'T MOVE A FUCKING MUSCLE_!"

Everyone frozen in their spots, Aria looks out of the corner of her eye in front of her noticing an open stairwell leading back to the first floor. She takes in a deep breath and sprints in the direction of the door, ducking her head from incoming shots from the police.

"Aria!" Spencer shrieks out. The rest of the team decides to run for it as well, shooting back at the two officer who are taking cover. Spencer fires a few blind shots as she runs after Aria.

Finally reaching Aria on the first floor, Spencer bends over with her hand on her knees trying to catch her breath from the sudden sprint. "Why did you do that?! You've could have gotten shot!"

"And do what? Get arrested?!" Aria leans against a wall catching her breath as well. "No way! I was going to take my chances."

"Well can you have at least give me a signal before you decide to dart off? We could have covered you."

"Aria!" Scott calls out as he bursts through the doors from the stairs, "Are you ok? Did you get hit?" He checks over her seeing how she's propped up against the wall.

"Yeah…" She huffs out, "Yeah, I'm fine." She looks around noticing it's only just her, Spencer and Scott. "Where's Max and Jackson?"

"They took off in a different direction. I don't know where they went." He pulls out a baggie from his lower pants pocket and tosses it to Spencer. "Quickly go stash this at the HQ, please. We'll wait for you to come back."

Spencer looks onto Aria who gives her a nod of assurance. "Ok." She turns around and jogs in the direction of the room, leaving the sight of the other members.

Scott turns back to Aria, "Alright, since we have an idea of where they all are located, we can plan an ambush," He whispers, "Hopefully they found enough baggies that we can just take them all."

"Oh!" Aria suddenly remembers. She digs into her shirt and pulls out the baggie she found in the hall with Spencer. "I found this one when we first split apart. Forgot for a minute that I had it in there." She giggles to herself.

Scott starts chuckling as well seeing Aria's secret stash of her own. "God bless bras."

 _POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!_

Before he gets to react, multiple shots ring out as Scott gets pelted several time in his right leg. He bellows in pain, crouching down on the ground.

"Don't you move, princess!" A purple banded shooter shouts seeing Aria about to make a run for it. The tiny brunette freezes.

Two LS members approach the wounded blond with their weapons drawn. "You. You're coming with me, get up!" One rival points the gun at Scott, gesturing him to stand. He yanks Scott by the arm making sure he doesn't try anything stupid.

"Take him to HQ." The bandit orders his colleague as he still has his gun pointed at Aria. "I got this one."

The RS member obliges and forces Scott through the stairwell doors. "I'm sorry, Aria." Scott apologizes before he is pushed, leaving Aria by herself.

A 5'0 girl against a 5'11 guy.

"Aria…" The outlaw sings her name. "It looks like you have something that belongs to me." He points to the baggie in her hand. "Give it and nobody gets hurt."

"No." Aria defiantly retorts back also mentally cursing herself for not raising her weapon when she had the chance.

"This isn't a debate." He steps closer to Aria, narrowing his eyes at her with his pitch rising. "How about you give me the fucking bag or I'm going to rip it off you."

" _How about you make one more move and you're going to get one in the back."_

The bandit tenses up as he hears a voice from behind him with the muzzle of a pistol pressed into his back.

"Now give me your gun or you're done for." The voice sternly demands.

"You wouldn't dare." The guy sneers trying to see who it from the corner of her eyes.

Spencer cocks back her gun creating an intimidating echo bouncing off the walls. " _Try me_."

Aria smirks at the bandit, laughing because she knows that he's stuck and, apparently, Spencer doesn't play around. Spencer gives Aria gesture to his gun with her eyes proceeded by a nod. Aria quickly seizes her enemy's gun while Spencer takes a step back, shooting him twice in the back of his leg.

" _Arggghhh_!" He falls down holding the limb that was pelted at close distance. " _Fuck!"_ Aria quickly pockets her baggie and new pistol as she stands beside Spencer who aiming at the LS member.

"Shut up, princess." Aria responds in the same tone he used with her earlier as she quickly searches him for any baggies.

"Shots fired from another hall! Where is Becca?! I need backup!" The girls hear the rapidly approaching footsteps from what seems to be a frantic officer incoming. They both dart towards the stairwell doors, over stepping the LS member, leaving him to fend for himself.

Trying to scramble to his feet, the guy is stopped by the officer. "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Running down the stairs and through the basement doors, Aria and Spencer run right into another person. Instantly, everyone draws their weapons at each other.

"Waitwaitwait! It's me!" Max loudly whispers as he waves them down so they wouldn't shoot. Aria and Spencer put their guns down in relief, worried that they were going to get caught in the middle of a crossfire. All three quickly scurry down the hall into an open dead end space in the corner.

"Where's Scott? We lost Jackson." Max asks the girls in a semi-panicky tone.

"We lost Scott." Aria hangs her head, "They look him. Spencer and I just barely made it out up there."

"Damnit!" Max angrily whispers as he runs his hand through his brown messy hair, looking around in thought, "I saw…I saw that there is three in their HQ room recuperating. I don't know how long they're going to be in there for but I'm thinking we should raid it. I figure we can take them all out and run off with whatever they have. How much ammo you guys have?"

Spencer slides out her magazine trying to see how much bullets she has left. "About half a clip still left with another unused one." She clicks the magazine back in.

"I'm set." Aria responds, "Took another gun from one of the LS upstairs." She nods at Spencer and Max, "I think we can take them."

"I have a better idea. Follow me." Max whispers, slowly leading them through another hall into an open storage closet. "Before Jackson got shot, we were in a standoff between two cops. Although we lost Jack…" Max pulls out two shotguns that he took from the police, "Guess what we won!" He happily taunts.

" _Holy shit!"_

" _No way!"_

"Yes way! Perfect for an ambush." Max checks the ammo count in both weapons. "What do you say? You think you can handle this?"

…..

" _1…"_

" _2…"_

" _3…!"_

Max bum-rushes inside the LS room with Spencer and Aria behind him blasting shotgun shells at the unsuspecting members. Being stuck inside the small room, the crew yell out in shock, trying to hide behind anything that could give them protection. Taking guard as well, Aria and Spencer stake out as shootout begins.

" _THEY GOT SHOTGUNS! THEY GOT SHOTGUNS!"_

" _RYAN! CONTACT STRAIGHT AHEAD!"_

" _MAX! TEN O'CLOCK!"_

" _FUCK! SOMEONE ONE COVER ME, DAMNIT!"_

" _WHERE THE FUCK IS RICHARD?! WHY WASN'T HE GUARDING THE FUCKING DOOR?!"_

" _I'M OUT OF AMMO! I NEED A CLIP!"_

" _LYDIA! WHY AREN'T YOU SHOOTING?!"_

" _IF I GET UP I'M GONNA GET LIT BY THAT SMALL GIRL!"_

" _I GOT A NAME, BITCH!"_

" _ARIA! ARIA! I'M RIGHT HERE!"_

Aria follows the direction of the voice and sees Scott squatting in the corner. He gestures her to pass him a weapon to help defend. Aria pulls her pistol from her pocket and slides it over to him. He quickly checks the ammo and gives her a thumbs up.

" _UNDERNEATH THE TABLE TO YOUR RIGHT, SPENCE!"_ Aria warns Spencer over the shooting, ducking behind a desk. Spencer changes directions and fires two shots at a peering person in the corner.

" _SPARIA! I'M GOING IN! COVER ME!"_ Seeing 8 baggies in their opponents' cart, Max hunkers down and quickly runs to the corner of the room to reach the bags with Spencer and Aria protecting him. Grabbing all the baggies, Max gets pelleted in his chest from a hiding LS. He purposely throws the bags outside the room giving Aria and Spencer a chance to grab it and run.

"THEY GOT THE BAGS!" Someone yells out as Aria frantically crawls out and stuffs the baggies in her sweats. Lydia pops up from her hiding place to go after Aria when she gets a rude awakening from shots flying in her direction.

"GET DOWN!" Spencer roars. She quickly throwing a glance in Aria's direction to see if she's collected everything.

"Come on, let's go!" Aria waves Spencer as she picks up her gun and runs in the direction of the staircase. Spencer takes a deep breath, fires some more shots and ducks her way out of the door, following after Aria.

Running as fast as they can, trying to avoid getting hit by the other team, Aria bursts through the stair doors with her shoulders and sprints up the stairs with Spencer right behind her. Hearing the door swinging open again, Spencer turns around and fires at the incoming person, making them retreat to a corner. "SPENCER! COME ON!"

Running down the hallway, tripping as they hit the corners, Aria runs into their HQ room with Spencer slamming the door close with her body right behind them.

"Good job, ladies…" Aria and Spencer jump at the sound of Noel's voice, not even noticing him. "Oh, didn't mean to scare you guys."

Aria and Spencer huff out in tiredness, Spencer's body still blocking the door. "We got….We….We got the baggies…" Aria wheezes as she tries to stand up straight. Noel walks over to her with his hand out prompting Aria to tug out the bags she stuffed in her pockets and bra. Noel nods with a smile at the halfway dead girls, "Excellent."

…..

"Oh my god! That was perfect!" Aria jumps as she and Spencer walk back to their dorms. "My adrenaline is rushing so much right now."

Spencer shakes her head in amazement, "I actually can't believe we just did that. That-that was so awesome."

"You were like _bang bang!_ And I was like _pow pow!"_ Aria reenacts their gameplay with a finger gun. _"_ And we were like _click clack! Bangbangbangbang_! And they were like _oh shit!_ And we were like _Fuck yeah_!"

"Great story-telling ability, Aria." Spencer laughs at the smaller brunette bouncing around like a little child who just left Chuck-E-Cheese.

"I'm just saying!" Aria beams, "You were so badass in there, Spencer. You were kicking ass and demanding people. You were looking like you just came out of the Gangster Squad movie!

"Me?! You were the one out there looking like a female Scarface." Spencer purposely bumps into Aria, "Now, I'm afraid to do anything to you because you'll whip out a gun from your bra and shoot me."

Aria gives a good, kindheartedly laugh as she leans into Spencer, holding onto her arm.

"You're laughing because you know it's true!"

As her laughter dies down and they see their College house in the distance, Aria recalls something. "Did you notice when we were in that shootout and we had to cover Max he called us Sparia?"

Spencer raises an eyebrow trying to remember Max saying such a thing. "Really?"

"Yeah, he was like, " _Sparia! I'm going in! Cover me!"_ What is that? A combination of Spencer and Aria?"

"Sounds like it." Spencer shrugs, "Sparia...It has a nice ring to it. I like it."

"I do too…" Aria rests her head on Spencer's arm, looking up at the night sky, "...Sparia."

 **The moment when your ship realizes their ship name *insert smug Pepe the frog meme here."** _ **;)**_

 **I just want to thank all the movies, shows, and video games I've watched/played my whole life because for this chapter, I had to really dig into my imagination to create this scenario.**

 **Hopefully it translate well to you guys!**

 **I can almost guarantee it's different from what you guys are used to but screw it! Let's go out of the box and put our OTPs in bizarre scenarios! That's more entertaining than the same old set ups, don't you think?**

 ***Chants* SPARIA FTW!**


	11. Chapter 11: The Adventures of Sparia

**To Guest who asked if the names I used last chapter were Teen Wolf names. I amazingly didn't even realize the random names I typed out were Teen Wolf character's names! Lmao I haven't watched TW in a minute and totally didn't even make that connection until you pointed it out! The only name from TW I knew I was Using was Lydia but Scott and Jackson? I surprised myself haha.**

CHAPTER #11: The Adventures of Sparia

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

" _I was on the phone with my mom in September of 2010, and we were talking about the news of a young college freshman from Rutgers University named Tyler Clementi. Sweet, sensitive, creative Tyler was secretly webcammed by his roommate while being intimate with another man. When the online world learned of this incident, the ridicule and cyberbullying ignited. A few days later, Tyler jumped from the George Washington Bridge to his death. He was 18. My mom was beside herself about what happened to Tyler and his family, and she was gutted with pain in a way that I just couldn't quite understand, and then eventually I realized she was reliving 1998, reliving a time when she sat by my bed every night, reliving a time when she made me shower with the bathroom door open, and reliving a time when both of my parents feared that I would be humiliated to death, literally-"_

"We made it!" Aria busts through Spencer's door with her phone tightly grasped in her hands, "We made it! We made it! We made it!" Aria jumps on top of Spencer's bed with Spencer rushing to pause her video and ripping the earbuds out of her ears, dumbfoundedly surprised. "Look! We made it!" Aria shoves her iPhone in Spencer's face.

"Stop jumping and let me see!" Spencer holds on Aria's hand trying to keep her still to see what she's bouncing about.

 _"….Amber Franks_

 _Spencer Hastings_

 _Oscar Kains_

 _Aria Montgomery…."_

"We made it!" Spencer looks up at Aria with a gaping smile.

"We did! _OMG_! We need to celebrate!" And on that note, Aria hops off the bed with her phone and heads towards the living room, leaving Spencer scrambling to her feet.

"Wait? Wh-where are you going?" Spencer quizzically asks after Aria as the smaller roommate leans against the front door, putting on her shoes.

"Somewhere where I know we can get things to _turn up_ with," Aria winks with a knowing smile. Putting on her last shoe, Aria unlocks the door and goes to leave when she hastily turns back around. "Quick. Do you-ah, never mind." Aria dismisses herself and leaves the dorm with Spencer standing in the middle of the small hallway.

" _Alright_ , Aria..."  
...

Spencer is going over notes in the living room when she hears the jingling of keys behind the front door. She turns around to see Aria sneakily rolling a small cooler into the dorm, something Spencer knows neither her nor herself own. "Ok…I'm afraid to ask what, why, where and who with this one."

"I told you that we have to celebrate getting past our initiation stage so I went and got our celebratory items." Aria rolls herself to the kitchen, placing her keys on the counter.

"Ok, that leaves out where and who..."

"You know Stephen down the floor?"

"No...Should I?" Spencer closes her book and makes her way towards Aria.

"Well, I've had a couple classes with him to know that he's the typical campus partier. One time, I helped him with one of his papers and the only form of payment he had were drinks," Aria opens up the cooler to reveal ice with a dispersed 12 pack sticking out, buried inside, "And I decided to cash in on that payment." Aria turns to look at Spencer who is heavily stricken by her gift, "That isn't soda if that's what you're thinking." She notes with a grin and the click of her tongue.

"You brought in alcohol?" Spencer lowers her voice as if someone would hear and report them to the TA. "If anyone found out we had this, we're so done for!"

"Relax, Spence. It's only a few drinks. We can polish them down tonight." Aria reaches up and pinches Spencer's cheeks with a face of assurance and joy, " _Nobody would even know_."

...

Cracking open her third bottle of Budweiser, Aria stands on top of the couch. "A toast for kicking ass and becoming one of UPenn's Blitz Society members!" Aria raises her bottle in the air.

"This is like your third time toasting, Aria" Spencer tries to pull Aria down before she falls over.

Aria pulls away from Spencer's grasp, trying not to spill her drink, "So let's toast for the fifth time! A sixth time! A seighth time!"

"Seighth?"

"It's somewhere between seven and eighth." Aria jumps down from the couch, trying to catch her balance by holding onto Spencer's leg, "They should make it an actual number." Aria reaches for her phone on the couch with her free hand, "Who do we have to call to make that happen? Congress?"

Spencer easily snatches the phone out of Aria's loose grip, "I don't think congress wants to hear a babbling fool talking about a number they made up."

"Oh c'mon, Spen!" Aria moves the hair out of her face as she slightly sways to the right, "Loosen up! This is like my third drink and _what_?" Aria points to Spencer's hand cradling a bottle of Heineken, "You're still on your first!"

Spencer looks down at her drink, "I don't get drunk because of...reasons. I'm drinking in moderation."

" _Moderation my ass_." Aria puts her drink on the small table in front of the couch and grabs the Bud out of Spencer's hand.

"Hey!" Spencer reaches back for her drink but Aria pulls back.

"Open your mouth. You're gonna chug this motherfucker thing _dooooown_."

Aria leans in to grab Spencer's face but the taller brunette slaps her hand away. She puts up a finger with a face of complete seriousness. "Don't you dare, Aria."

"Choo Choooo! Here comes the train!" Aria shakes the bottle in front of her and dives in like a mother spoon feeding her infant child. "Open wiiiiiide!"

Spencer closes her lips shut as she leans back into the sofa away from Aria's "feeding". "Mmmm!" She utters disagreement from within her throat as she shakes her head.

" _Fine_ …Then don't do it" Aria backs off, "This is kind of like porn. You don't have to do anal if you don't want to…" Aria suddenly jumps on the brunette as she squeezes Spencer's lower face, tilting her head back, "But here you have no choice! Peel back those lips, Hastings! I'm about to get you inebriated!"

...

During the night of letting loose and celebrating, the girls definitely found themselves doing things they probably would hesitate doing sober…

 _Pretending They Are at a Live Concert_

Scanning YouTube on their Blu-Ray player, the girls thought it would be a great idea to relive one of their favorite bands from their middle school years.  
Late at night.  
At full blast.  
 _Great idea._

 _"Well that's it! We hope you've enjoyed your night. We are Paramore. We'll see you around Chicago!"_

As soon as the band starts up one of their most popular songs, Spencer and Aria crazily jump and down in synchronization of the music.

 _"I'm in the business of misery, let's take it from the top!  
She's got a body like an hourglass that's ticking like a clock!"_

The two drunk brunettes sing as loud as they can the lyrics as they sip the drinks in their hands, trying not to spill them.

"It's a matter of time before we all run out!" Aria jumps in front of Spencer, grabbing her free hand as she yells along.

Spencer responds just as loudly, bouncing up and down, "When I thought he was mine, she caught him by the mouth!"

"Oh my gooood. I fucking love this song!" Aria yells over the blaring video playing in their living room, "I feel so aliiiive!"

"I know right?! Way to relive the horror years of my middle school experiences!"

 _Not Knowing How to Operate Everyday Things_

"Where are you going?" Spencer calls out to Aria who is walking towards the front door.

"I think I dropped my pack of gum out in the hallway." Aria goes to the door handle to open the door but it's locked. Looking at the door perplexed, she unlocks the bottom lock and pulls on the door handle that won't open. She locks the bottom lock and unlocks the top lock then pulls on the door handle again. Still locked.

Locks top lock and pulls on handle. Locked

"Wait…" She mumbles to herself as she points at the two locks, trying to figure out what's going on.

Unlocks bottom lock and pulls on handle. Locked.

Locks bottom lock, unlock top locks and pulls on handle. Locked.

Unlocks top lock and pulls on handle. Locked.

"Dude! What the _fuck_ is the combination to this lock?!"

 _Attempted Prank Calling_

Spencer crouches down in the kitchen as she pulls out her phone and dials Aria who is in her room. She starts to silently giggle as she hears the other brunette's phone go off.

"Hello?" Aria answers the private caller as she tries to sound as normal as possible.

"What are you wearing?" Spencer tries to disguise her voice but the hiccups and a small snicker behind it gave her identity away.

Aria smiles as she puts the phone in front of her mouth, "My pajamas, _bitch_!"

 _Ranting_

"So! You want to become a lawyer, an attorney or whatever the fuck you're getting your degree for, huh?!" Aria stands in front of Spencer like a military drill sergeant as Spencer sits on the couch. "Well guess what fucker!" Aria leans into Spencer's face in full commanding mode, "You're not _ready_ to run with the big dogs yet! Not until you could shove an entire bowl of Ramen Noodles up your ass!"

Spencer bursts out laughing as she turns her head to the side away from Aria's face. "Seriously?"

" _Yes_! Each and every individual noodle up your _fucking ass_! You need a striped blazer in every color! And one for your fucking water bottle to match!" She jabs her finger in Spencer's chest  
"You need to shit this from your _soul_! You want to be in law? YOU GOT TO GO BIG OR GO HOME! THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES!"

 _Reenacting Famous Movie Scenes*_

As Aria goes to the bathroom, Spencer goes into the trash, picks up three empty beer bottles.

" _Ariiiiaaaaa_ …" Spencer clanks together the bottles as she stuck her thumb, index and ring fingers inside and pinched like a crab, leaning her body against the door, "Come out to _plaaaaaay_."

She clinks the bottles harder as her voice rises in a eerie tone,

" _Ariiiiiiiaaaaaaa_! Come out to _plaaa-aaaay_!

 _ARIIIIIIIAAAAA_! COME OUT TO _PLAAAA-AAAAY!_

 _ARIIIIAAAAAAA-"_

"Ok, Spencer stop! You're scaring me!" A muffled voice comes from the other side of the door.

" _ARIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_ " Spencer slams the bottles together even harder as her pitch its peak, _"COME OUT TO PLAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"_

 _Name Combinations_

"If we were fictional characters, what would our ship name be?" Aria asks as she leans up against Spencer on the couch.

Spencer ponders for a moment, looking straight ahead in deliberation "Sparia Monthastings"

"What about Sparia Hastgomery?"

"Sparia Hastery"

"Sparia Montgomings"

"Sparia Monty-haste"

"Sparia Monty Python and the Holy Grail!" Aria snaps, "I like it!"

 _Drunk Story Telling_

Aria and Spencer are on Aria's bed, laying side by side as they reveal some parts of their lives before college.

Or at least attempt to.

"So one time my ex, whose name is..." Aria recollects but stares up at the ceiling in confusion, "His name is…oh my gosh, I can't remember his name!" Aria rolls into Spencer in a small giggling fit which causes Spencer to start laughing as well.

"What's his name?"

"Wait, I'm tripping out," Aria rolls back onto her back as she palms her forehead in thought, "Oh my god. Okay. His name is fucking…" Aria cuts herself in another fit of laughter as hides behind her hand.

"His name is fucking?!" Spencer snickers in complete hilarity, causes both sloshed girls to roll into each other back and forth, laughing as hard as could be.

"Noooo!" Aria puts a finger to her lip as she tries to bypass the laughter and remember Ezra's name. "It's fucking something…"

"He's fucking something?" Spencer turns to face the pondering brunette.

"No, he was fucking me!"

The room erupts in hazy laughter as Spencer tries to catch her breath, waving her hands in the air as a form of defeat. "Waitwaitwait! I-I can't!"

 _Going On Adventures_

Figuring that maybe they wanted to roam out on their lovely College House late at night, the buzzed Aria and Spencer found themselves idly roaming, trying to be appear as sober as they drunkenly can. While going up and up every floor, the two heard loud music bumping from a certain hallway with caused them to check it out. Once they saw where the action was taking place and the people walking in and out, they looked at each other with beaming grins because they know they hit the jackpot.

"Now look," Spencer pulls Aria to the side, "We have to go in there….vigilant. We have to be vigilantes. Let's stick together and-and…We are a couple if needed to cockblock."

Aria holds out her picky up to Spencer's face, "Deal."

Spencer interlocks her pinky with Aria's before they get ready to invade some random person's dorm. Walking into the dorm party, the girls are greeted with loud hip hop music, an abundance of people and alcohol in everyone's system. Not trying to be in the center of all the madness, the two girls hold up an empty wall in the corner of the room as they plot what to do first.

"Ladies, ladies!" A guy approaches the two in open arms, yelling over the music "We're doing some jello shots over there if you want to come join us!"

"No thanks!" Spencer yells back denying his request, "We're fine!"

"Alright! Well, there are drinks over there on the table! Go over and help yourself! Get off the fuckin' wall and have some fun!" The young partygoer lightly shakes Aria's arm in a playful manner before he walks off to another set of girls.

Looking over at the table of alcohol, spencer notices something that make her eyebrows shoot up. " _Hey_. Change of plans." Spencer whispers into Aria's ears as she points out in front of her, "Ya'see the table with the drinks on it?"

" _Yeaaaah_ , I'll get us some!" Aria proceeds to walk right as Spencer grabs her by the arm and pulls her back.

"Nooo. That's not it! Look at what's _besides_ the drinks."

Aria takes her sights off the alcohol and notices the large bowl of an assortment of candy sitting right next to it, available at the partiers' convenience. "The candy?"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Spencer widely grins as she raises her eyebrows up in down in a suggestive matter.

"Hell yeah…" Aria nods her head, returning the devilish look right back. Spencer leads the way as they both walk past people to get to their designated area. Luckily for them, the table in located towards the corner of the living room while everyone one else is facing the opposite direction, watching someone chug down a mini keg. Reaching the table, Spencer looks around to check her surroundings before she stuffs a handful of small candies into her jacket. As she's practicing her not so clever klepto skills, Spencer grabs some more candy and tries to find another quick and accessible location to hide them away. Looking down for one second, Spencer looks back up as she reaches for the basin to find the area where the candy once stood completely gone. She quickly turns to see that Aria took the liberty of grabbing the whole bowl and now is silently shuffling towards the door trying to go unnoticed. Spencer's eyes widen as she quickly checks around again, pacing up to her.

"What are you doing?!" She loudly whispers.

"I'm doing what we planned." Aria non-discreetly walks past some partiers that are raising eyebrows at their bowl about to walk out the door.

"Hey! Where the fuck are you going?!"

Getting caught, Aria looks down at the large bowl in her hands, "Uhm….I'm going to refill it."

"The fuck you are! You're trying to take it!"

" _Noooo_ ….." In that split second, Aria dashes to the door with Spencer catching on a second too late, being off guard at the sudden run. As soon as the smaller brunette runs through the threshold, she slams into another person, making the candy and the bowl fly everywhere.

"Hey! What the fuck!" The girl yells out as she clutches her side in pain.

" _Soorry_!" Aria immediately bends down and tries to pick up all the candy and it back in the bowl.

Noticing that some angry person, probably the host, is storming towards them, Spencer grabs Aria's arm, "Fuck the candy! Come on!" She forcibly lifts Aria from her crouching position and starts running down the hall trying to find their way out of there.

…...

Coming back into their dorm, laughing like hyenas, Spencer throws herself on the couch, "Okaaay, let's fucking…never do that again, Mr. I'm a quarterback."

Going back into their kitchen, Aria sucks on a jolly rancher as she walks back to the cooler, "I want to finish these off. There's only three more." Aria grabs two additional bottles as she walks over to Spencer, handing her a drink. "Me Aria. You Spencer. Together _smashed_." Aria mocks in her best Hulk impression as she beats on her chest.

…..

"When I first met you…" Spencer begins with a slight slur in the kitchen as Aria climbs to the top of the couch and sits on it, trying to make sure she doesn't fall backwards, "You were so _fucking_ annoying. Like…Whenever I would see you, I would wanna ram myself into a…fucking…wall."

Aria laughs as she remembers back on their first few runs in together, "Good job, Aria!" She congratulated herself with a pat on the back.

"But _now_ …now-now I like you." She sashays over to Aria with low eyes, "I like the spawn of Satan who wasn't even Satan at all. Just a little girl who goes by-"

"Agneeees!" Aria lifts her hands in the air with excitement. Moving so suddenly, she loses he balance and falls backwards into the couch.

"Ugh! I haven't had sex in so long!" Spencer whines as she leans over the couch instead of helping Aria, "And I need some like…right now. Who-who's the guy who gave us these drinks? St…St-Stan? Where's Steve? Tell Steve I'm gonna _rock his world_."

"EZRA!" Aria pops up from behind the couch with the face of elation. "HIS NAME IS FUCKING EZRA!"

"Ezra?" Spencer cocks her head to the side with a squint, "I'on 'member his name being _Ezra_. I'm pretty sure his name was Sebastian." Her face changes from pondering to sleazy as she moves side to side, "But where is this Ezra? He sounds hot."

"Oh my god!" Aria moves her hair out her face, still surprised at her revelation about an hour late, "Of course! _Fuckme_!"

"You…You-you want me to fuck you?"

"Huh?!"

"What?!"

"Wait…..who's fucking who?"

"I thought I was gonna fuck Ezra?"

"I fucked Ezra!"

"You fucked Sebastian?!"

"Who's Sebastian?!"

"The guy who gave us the drinks!"

"Stephen?!"

"Who's Stephen?! When did you fuck Sebastian?!"

"Nooo! I fucked Ezra!"

"…When?! You fucked him _here_?!"

"Noooooo! Back home! My ex's name is Ezra!"

"This is too much." Spencer rubs her face in confusion as she staggers away from the couch, whining, "All this fucking and I'm not doing any of it!"

…...

Ending the night as their bodies begin to shut down, the two decide to watch a movie. Of Aria's choosing of course.

"Wait!" Aria jumps up to quickly, causing her to wait to regain her balance, "I can't watch a move without-without _food_!" Aria slowly maneuvers herself to the kitchen to her junk food pantry. "Whatdoyou want, Spencer?" she calls out.

"Uhmm…I waaaaant….Twizzlers. _Gimmetwizzlers_. If….ifwehaveany." Spencer jumbles out her request with no energy left to form correct and pronounced words.

Aria grabs the Twizzlers and bag of barbeque chips out the pantry and makes her way back to the couch. "Here," she throws without looking at Spencer. "Don't ask me for none of mines. 'Cuz it's mines. Only miiiines." Aria looks to Spencer, "Spencer? …. Spencer?"

Spencer is completely knocked out, faced down into the couch cushions.

"Speeeeencer!" Aria whines as she shakes the blacked out brunette. Just when she started to violently shake Spencer out of her sleep, an idea popped into her head with a sly smile spreading across her face.

 ***The movie Spencer reenacted was the iconic scene from the 1979 movie** _ **"Warriors".**_ **Arguably one of the most memorable scenes of all time because it was just so odd and creepy yet hilarious. It has been referenced and spoofed many, many times since then. I definitely recommend you looking up "** _ **Warriors, come out to play**_ **" on YouTube to see it for yourself!**

 **DRUNK SPARIA, FTW!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed 3,500+ words of the drunk adventures of Aria Montgomery and Spencer Hastings or shall I say Sparia…** **Hastgomery.**

 **Review, loves!**


	12. Chapter 12: Masterpiece

**Surprise!**

CHAPTER #12: Masterpiece

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

"Many people make art. Everyday day, every second, someone is creating a piece of art," Dr. Hasleberger pulls up a seat in the middle of his classroom with all the students intensively listening to him, "Whether the person is 5 years old or 105 years old, someone in the world is creating an art piece. But…what makes a _masterpiece_?" He looks out to the class in front of him before he points to a student, "Evan…what makes a masterpiece different from a regular art piece in your definition?"

"Uhm…" Evan shifts in his seat as the class turns in his direction, "A certain uniqueness is a must for a masterpiece. Like Mona Lisa's smile."

"Yes." The art teacher smiles as he agrees with the nervous student, trying to make him feel more comfortable. "Seeing the seductive smile of the Mona Lisa, you can't help but wonder what she is thinking. Certain masterpiece." He picks another student, "Yvette. What makes a masterpiece to you?"

"I think a masterpiece is whatever you want it to be." Yvette answers more confidently than Evan after a moment of pondering, "Usually it is a painting that has all the qualities that any picture needs: Drawing/design, composition, color, rhythm, space, atmosphere and mystery. But what is it that stirs your soul so? I think it is that final unknowable thing that sets a masterpiece apart."

"Perfect breakdown, Yvette." He nods in agreeance, "Spencer?"

Spencer clears her throat as she sits up straight, tapping on her notebook, "A masterpiece clubs you over the head when you first see it. Mentally, you feel yourself breaking through all sorts of filters and being struck by whatever you're viewing in ways you never really thought about. When you walk into an art gallery and it's the one that shouts quality from across the room, it doesn't work with reproductions."

"Exactly, Hastings." He points in approval, " _Being struck in ways you never really thought about._ Most of us know when we have witnessed a masterpiece, even if we can't describe why. Standing at the foot of the Sistine Chapel it can be difficult to breathe—how did he do that? Stare at van Gogh's Starry Night and feel the vibrating sky. In all of these cases, you know you're in front of a one-of-a-kind, not to be replicated experience. Sometimes, as in the case of Michelangelo's statue of the Virgin Mary holding her dying son, 'The Pieta', this is a masterpiece that is simply perfect in the same way a rose is perfect, nothing could be added nor anything done to improve it. A Masterpiece is the work of an artist who has been absorbed by the spirit of his/her times and can transform a personal experience into a universal one. Masterpieces make us forget the artists, and instead direct our attention to the artists' works. We may wonder how a particular work was executed, but for the time being we are transposed, so deeply brought into this creation that our consciousness is actually expanded." Dr. Hasleberger pauses for a moment before he strikes them with his final line, "You know when you've encountered a masterpiece because it stays with you for the rest of your life."

…

With the sun slowly dwelling down for the day, Spencer and Aria decided to study for their upcoming art exam inside the library so they can be surrounded with all the resources needed. Having a table to themselves in the back, the girls have their notebooks and books sprawled out as they go on a repetition and highlighting frenzy.

"Often a painting will include very clear symbols — skulls, for instance, were often included in portraits of the wealthy to remind them that their wealth was only worldly and, in the grand scheme of things, ultimately meaningless." Spencer mumbles to herself as she paraphrases her notes, re-writing it in shorter terms on a notecard they're allowed to bring with them on test day. "But just as often the symbolism is unique, the artist's own individual statement. And that means what, Aria?" Spencer asks without looking up from her papers.

"Don't get caught in the trap of trying to figure out "what the artist meant"; focus instead on what the work says to _you_." Aria recites as Spencer pop quizzes her, looking down at her own set of notes. "The next consideration is style, which is essentially the mark of the artist's individual creativity on the canvas. What does that supposed to mean, Spencer?"

"That it may not seem as obvious as the subject and symbolism, but style can also convey meaning to a viewer." Spencer looks up at Aria as she stops writing, "Is that the best you got? I could have said that in my sleep."

"Don't get too cocky, Hastings." Aria flips the page in her book as she points a pen at her. "Don't make me have to _punish_ youagain." She silently smiles to herself, not making eye contact with Spencer.

 **The following day from their wild night, Spencer is awoken by a bright light being shone in her eyes. Unable to escape the sensation of waking up, Spencer groans as she tries to get off the couch. Slowly sitting up, Spencer rubs her face as she feels every muscle in her body throbbing. She looks around with a squint to find beer bottles on the coffee table, one on the floor, and food being left all over. "What the hell?" Spencer grunts to herself as she raises to her feet. As soon as her body fully extends upward, she holds her arms out besides her to try to beat the sudden dizziness she acquired. Getting herself put together, Spencer shuffles her way to the empty and dark bathroom. Not wanting to turn on the harsh lights, Spencer leans against the sink as her right hand fumbles the wall for the light switch. When the light finally comes on, Spencer slowly raises her head to look in the mirror when she jumps back from a minor heart attack.**

" **What the hell?!"**

 **Spencer quickly raises a hand to her face in distraught to see wildly, arched thick eyebrows, the right higher than the left have been drawn on her face. Along with a thick and dark mustache that thinned out to an upward half circle like an old English man, A soul patch on her chin and an exaggerated scar on her left eye that resembled Scar from Lion King.**

 **All in pitch black, fine ink.**

 **She has been….sharpied.**

" **ARIA!" Spencer yells out, causing her to flinch in pain from the aching of her temples. She stomps over to Aria's room door and pushes it open to see Aria sprawled out in her bed. "Aria fucking Montgomery."**

" **Uhhhhhhhhh…." Aria moans from her face inside of a pillow**

" **I am going to fucking kill you!"**

"Haha." Spencer sarcastically laughs with a mocking face. "I'm glad that you think your near death experience was comical enough for you to even _try_ to repeat that shit again."

"I'm just saying…" Aria fake innocently shrugs, "Save your ego for test day."

…

Going back and forth testing each other, writing their notes and looking up other books that the library has to offer, the day starts taking a toll on them as their steam from the first moments of studying have settled down. Awaken at 5am and running around ever since, the words starts blending together as Spencer tries to keep herself conscious. She groans in tiredness, "How far have you gotten?" She asks as she peaks over at Aria's side.

"I almost have my notecard covered." She holds up her card and flips it to the back, "I'm still trying to figure out what info I should finish the back with. How about you?"

Spencer shows her full front but semi filled back, "I'm starting to fall asleep over here and can't write anything down," Spencer huffs as she throws her card down on top of her book.

"Then take a quick nap." Aria suggests, "Like a 15 minute power nap. If you're still tired, just do the rest in the morning."

"Yeah…" She rests her head down inside of the soft pages of her art book, "I'm just going to take a little nap."

"Try not to drool in there." Aria giggles as she goes through her phone.

"If I wake up to another art work of yours," Spencer adjusts her sleeping position to get more comfortable, "I'm going to murder you in front of all these people."

…

About half an hour later, slowly opening her eyes, seeing a bookcase fade In and out behind her eye lids, it takes a few moments for Spencer to realize she was not in the comfort of her own room. She groggily lifted herself off book she was asleep on and rubbed her eyes. She looked around to see that Aria's things were still on the table but she's nowhere in sight. As the brunette stretched her tired limbs, she goes to palm her forehead when she feels something stuck to it. Confused, Spencer rips off the sticky note that was placed on her.

"DO NOT TOUCH THE MASTERPEICE."

Spencer sits in her chair staggered as she looks around at the other people surrounding her in the back of the library doing their own thing. She contemplates for a moment to as who could have placed the note on her before her mind drifts to a certain someone. _Of course._

…

Walking through the different aisles of the library, Spencer goes up and down until she finds the assumed culprit sitting on the floor, skimming through a book.

Aria looks up at Spencer with a warm smile before going back to her book, "Hello, sleepy head."

Spencer holds up the sticky note on her pointer finger, "Did you put this on me while I was sleeping?"

"Put what?" Aria furs her eyebrow as Spencer walks over to her to show her the note she's sure she wrote. "Haha. Cute but it wasn't me." Aria denies, "I've been here since you took your nap."

Spencer tilts her head not believing Aria did not do it, "No, you did this, Aria."

"No, I didn't, Spencer. You must have a secret admirer out there that must really admire you to do that."

Spencer holds her hand in defeat as she looks out to the right of her, "If-if you didn't do it…then who did?"

Aria shrugs as she turns the page of the book in her hands, "Whoever did must think you're a fine piece of art. You know what you said about masterpieces… _When you walk into an art gallery and it's the one that shouts quality from across the room. It doesn't work with reproductions._ "

Spencer goes to say something but stops herself mid-way, "Wait…how did you remember that verbatim? I don't even remember what I said."

"I just _really_ pay attention, I guess."

….

A few days later after their studying session, Aria and Spencer got passed the hurdle of their art exam, both with flying colors, however, Aria has another hurdle to get over. Classical Mythology. Apparently, "" doesn't really work when people don't leave review for each teacher. Looking up her options of out of which two teachers to choose from, she had to decide between a teacher that had bad reviews and a teacher that had no reviews. _How bad could the other teacher be?_ Aria sadly mistakens as she signed up for Dr. Fang's class. Studying for their first exam that covers 3 whole chapters in the beginning of the semester, Aria uses every opportunity she can to rack her brain for that exam. And it has not gone by unnoticed by Spencer.

The night before the exam, Spencer came home to her dorm late with Aria vacant. _She probably went to go study with someone._ Spencer thought as she had the whole place to herself. Not wanting to mess up Aria's study session, Spencer doesn't call or text her roommate and chooses to talk to her whenever she gets back. Hours passing by without a word from anyone, Spencer looks at the time on her phone _11:15pm. If she wants to do well on this test, she can't stay out late to cram._ Spencer dial's Aria's number and counts the rings just to get a voicemail. Normally, Spencer wouldn't think too much of a missed call but the air felt different this night. She gets up from her bed and puts on her shoes in hopes to see Aria somewhere in the building.

…

Calling every so often as she goes up and down each floor, Spencer wanders the long halls of the College House. After tens of minutes upon minutes of an unsuccessful venture, Spencer decides to go by the front desk to see if anyone has seen her leave, maybe to set her sights somewhere else. She knows Aria isn't at the library because of the hour so she hopes that she's close by. Before reaching the lobby, Spencer makes a double take as she passes by the study room. And there she was. Through the window glass, there were books sprawled out on a table with a fuzzy looking Aria all by herself.

Spencer pushes through the double doors to find Aria incoherently mumbling to herself, not noticing Spencer walk in. "Aria? What are you doing?"

"The twelve main Olympians that live on Mount Olympus are: Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares…"

"Okay," Spencer sighs as she grabs together Aria's papers and sticks them neatly inside her textbook. "You have official studied yourself to a zombie." Aria continues to recite the information in a fixed haze, not affected by Spencer cleaning up for her. Placing all her things in her bag, Spencer swings it over her shoulder as she gestures Aria out of the door. The smaller brunette slowly stands up back as she tries to remember what she wrote down. Unaware of how tired she actually was, she trips over her own feet and crashes to the floor with Spencer rushing over to her.

"Are you okay?" Spencer concernedly asks as she extends her hand to pick up Aria.

Instead of using her hand for leverage, Aria hangs her head. "I can't…there are twelve Olympian Gods and I only named eight." She softly whines to herself.

"Okay…C'mon Agnes," Spencer crouches down besides the smaller brunette. Putting her arm underneath her legs and a hand supporting her back, Spencer raises to her feet cradling Aria in her arms with her Aria's arms around her neck like a little child.

"Did you know that Cyniras, King of Cyprus, was bragging that his daughter Myrrha was more beautiful than Aphrodite so Aphrodite punishes him by imposing Myrrha with a never-ending lust for her father?" Aria sleepily informs Spencer as they walk down the hallway to the stairs, "She wanted to screw her dad so bad that she disguised herself as a prostitute in order to do it."

"No…" Spencer coos as she opens the staircase door with her back, "I had no idea."

"Yeah…and-and Helen of Troy is like half god, half human, half swan." She continues with a slight slur as she clings onto Spencer's neck, "Zeus admired Leda so much that he turned himself into a swan. And one day when Leda was sitting naked beside a lake, they had sex. Leda and a swan!"

Using the hand to support Aria's back, Spencer uses her free hand to dig into her jacket to get her keys to unlock the door, "Did you learn that today?"

"Yeah..." Aria nuzzles her face into Spencer's neck.

Pushing the door open and closing it with her foot, Spencer keeps walking straight towards Aria's room. Twisting the door handle to the room, Spencer puts her bag on the floor besides her bed before she takes Aria's cover and pulls it back. With everything in position, Spencer slowly lowers Aria into her bed but Aria groans as she climbs further up Spencer's neck in resistance. " _Nonono_ , Aria." Spencer lightly whispers, "Come on, you need to go to sleep."

"I don't wanna….sleep…"

Spencer lowers Aria again, placing her gently into her bed with Aria relinquishing. Finally in her bed, Spencer takes the sheets and covers Aria, making sure she's inside snug.

"Goodnight, Agnes." Spencer softly calls out but Aria already fell sound asleep. Instead of turning around and leaving the room, Spencer stands there, looking over Aria as she sleeps. Not only observing her, she stands there and recollects everything that has transpired between the two ever since they met up until this very moment.

 **Aria sees the doors slowly closing and swiftly rushes herself in between them, causing them to reopen again. Seeing that the taller brunette purposely tried to close the doors on her, Aria spitefully leans over and presses every floor button as the elevators close. Spencer shoots her a vicious glare while Aria fixes her posture and stares straight ahead.**

 **Spencer closes her eyes and presses her lips together as the elevator dings and stops at every floor, keeping the doors open for at least seven seconds each before slowly closing. Aria glances at the brunette in pure satisfaction before looking ahead at the elevator doors with a smirk.**

 **"You started it."**

 **"Don't..." Spencer says softly in a serious tone.**

 **There is a silence between the two for a few seconds as the elevator travels to the first floor.**

 **"Bet you won't do that next time…"**

 **"Have you been assigned to make my life a living hell?!" Spencer spits out as she speedily turns to face Aria.**

 **"Yep." Aria twists and turns her body slightly like a little child, still facing forward. "I am your personal little demon," She says with a twisted grin as the elevators doors open up to the lobby of the Levine Hall.**

 **"Bye, sweetheart!" Aria waves before she walks out of the elevator and walks onto her next location.**

X

 **Aria slowly walks in the direction of the wet brunette, "I came back to open the-"**

 **"Not. Another. Word." Spencer slowly mutters out**

 **"I-"**

 **"Ah!" Spencer cuts her off.**

 **"But-"Aria tries to apologize.**

 **"No..."**

 **Aria stays quiet for a moment before she points something out, "Y-Your nipples are showing…"**

 **Spencer glares at the small brunette, "** _ **You**_ **…would be the cause of that."**

 **"The cause of your nipples being hard or…?"**

 **"GOODNIGHT, SATAN." Spencer exclaimed before making her way past Aria and into her unlocked room door.**

X

 **"You've got to be kidding me," she mumbles under her breath as she hangs her head. Aria takes a step towards Spencer. "Please don't." Spencer tiredly protests, "If you've came here to make my night even more of a hell, you've already won."**

 **"Look, Spencer, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For everything." Aria apologizes as she steps closer, "I just want to start over. No games, no fighting, just a restart."**

X

 **With the knife in her hand, Aria turns towards Spencer and starts laughing. "The reason the kitchen looks distraught is because I'm short." Aria stretches her arms out beside her to show her small height. "Katherine, my roommate, puts things so high up that I have to turn everyday things into Dora the Explorer adventures. I tried to climb for the flour in that upper cabinet." She points the knife in the direction of the cabinet, "But as you can tell," Aria looks down at her wardrobe, "I had a little bit of a problem."**

 **Spencer laughs as she reaches out to dust Aria's bun, "It even got in your hair."**

 **"Exactly," Aria stands there as Spencer pats her down like a little puppy. "So with all that hard work, you could at least** _ **try**_ **the cake."**

X

 **"He's not a predator nor pedophile," Aria whines as she turns her body to face Spencer. "Besides he wasn't old! He was fairly young. Early 20's."**

 **Spencer washes out her cup and spoon, "Did you at least get an A in his class? You know, since you were banging your teacher."**

 **"Should that even be a question?" Aria gives Spencer a knowingly look.**

 **"Sleeping our way to the top, I see? I thought I raised you better than that," Spencer flicks water at the laughing brunette**

X

 **Aria walks to her room while Spencer loudly groans. "But Art is tedious and boring! Theater is so much better! Just make the switch and we'll make this easier on everyone!"**

 **"Stop mumbling over there." Aria walks back into the living room with Spencer's laptop in her hands. Aria sits back into the couch and opens the computer. She pauses for a second as she gazes at the screen. "...You were looking up Courage the Cowardly Dog, Spencer?" She looks at Spencer with a perplexed tickled look.**

 **Spencer gets out of her chair and hops into the couch next to Aria, "Well,** _ **excuse me**_ **for trying to relive my childhood, Aria."**

X

 **Aria glances at every classmate as they quietly yell out the components of herself. She then looks over to Spencer who has said nothing. She keeps her gaze on her until Spencer finally speaks up.**

 **"I notice her small stature." Aria smiles to herself as she shakes her head.** _ **Great pick, Spencer.**_

 **"Now since you have noted the first things you notice about her, what does her appearance tell you?"**

 **The first few moments, the class becomes silent. Nobody wanting to say anything or not knowing what to say. Aria begins to become anxious, standing in front of a quiet classroom while all eyes are peering at her.**

 **"Her eyes. They're like big buttons. She has these round hazel eyes that tells me that she's very spontaneous, fun and always up for an adventure at point of time. Mischievous and sensual in equal measure, however, judging how she took the jump of being up there for the class to critique, I'm most likely right."**

 **The class all turns to look at the person who busted out a synopsis first, Aria giving an appreciative and surprised grin.**

 **"Very good, observation, Ms. Hastings." Dr. Hasleberger wags his finger at her, approvingly agrees, "I would like to point out something to follow up. Many artists rely on their characters eyes to help show their personality; big, small, narrow, slanted, uneven. All those eye shapes mean something, it shows something to add to. So you noting that, Ms. Hastings, is a perfect example of how eyes play a role on our personality. Great job."**

X

 **Aria opens her room door and opens Spencer's door directly across from hers.**

 **"Give me my phone back, Spencer." Aria demands with her palm out.**

 **Spencer bursts out into an uncontained laughter as she reaches over to her night stand, grabs Aria's phone and hands it back to her. "Flawed human behavior!" Spencer barely utters out within her chuckles as Aria walks out of her room.**

X

" **Why were you so interested in what I was doing?" Spencer leans against her door frame and crosses her arms, "I know coding is pretty boring," She forces out a laugh.**

 **Aria shakes her head, allow a smile to cross her face, "Other than school, I see you have so much dedication and put time into it. I just wanted to know how it was done. What makes it so interesting to you? Besides, you allow me to vent my feelings about the books I read so I think it's a fair trade."**

 **Spencer nods her head, appreciating Aria's answer. "Well, have fun while you're out." She waves her hand.**

 **Alright! Bye!" Aria waves back and leaves the dorm. Leaving Spencer with a smile on her face.**

X

 **As her laughter dies down and they see their College house in the distance, Aria recalls something. "Did you notice when we were in that shootout and we had to cover Max he called us Sparia?"**

 **Spencer raises an eyebrow trying to remember Max saying such a thing. "Really?"**

 **"Yeah, he was like, "** _ **Sparia! I'm going in! Cover me!"**_ **What is that? A combination of Spencer and Aria?"**

 **"Sounds like it." Spencer shrugs, "Sparia...It has a nice ring to it. I like it."**

 **"I do too…" Aria rests her head on Spencer's arm, looking up at the night sky, "...Sparia."**

X

 **"This is kind of like porn. You don't have to do anal if you don't want to…" Aria suddenly jumps on the brunette as she squeezes Spencer's lower face, tilting her head back, "But here you have no choice! Peel back those lips, Hastings! I'm about to get you inebriated!"**

X

" **No, I didn't, Spencer. You must have a secret admirer out there that must really admire you to do that."**

 **Spencer holds her hand in defeat as she looks out to the right of her, "If-if you didn't do it…then who did?"**

 **Aria shrugs as she turns the page of the book in her hands, "Whoever did must think you're a fine piece of art. You know what you said about masterpieces…** _ **When you walk into an art gallery and it's the one that shouts quality from across the room. It doesn't work with reproductions.**_ **"**

 **Spencer goes to say something but stops herself mid-way, "Wait…how did you remember that verbatim? I don't even remember what I said."**

" **I just** _ **really**_ **pay attention, I guess."**

Spencer silently chuckles to herself with all the flooded memories. Everything thing they've been through in the short times they've been together has definitely made an imprint in Spencer's mind. But those all the memoirs, Dr. Hasleberger's voice can't seem to get out of her mind.

" _ **Most of us know when we have witnessed a masterpiece, even if we can't describe why. You know when you've encountered a masterpiece because it stays with you for the rest of your life."**_


	13. Chapter 13: Goosebumps

CHAPTER #13: Goosebumps

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Walking from class to class, flyers, bulletin posts, and decorations all showcase a special holiday which was taking place that day. A low groan escapes Spencer's throat as she walks past a small table with a couple of cheery girls sitting behind it.

"Excuse me!" One of the girls call out to Spencer as she bypasses them, "Would you like to buy a Love Gram for a special someone today?" Spencer slowly walks backwards to the table with a forced smile, "We only have a few more hours before we deliver them later this evening. Just for $10, we can help make Valentine's Day very special between you and that _someone_." The girl cheerfully pitches her sale with a sheet, pen and money box in front of her.

"No thanks," Spencer politely declines, "I'm not celebrating this year." She goes to walk away but is stopped once again,

"Aww, but why not?" The sales girl pushes on, halfway concerned and halfway trying to get Spencer's signature and money.

Spencer shrugs with a confused smile, "Because there is no special someone to buy $10 worth of goods."

"I mean, it doesn't have to be strictly romantic! It can be platonic as well. Maybe you have a best friend that you just want to celebrate your friendship with." She grabs a model goodie bag and shakes it as an offering with a wide smile, "You can still buy him or her a Love Gram!"

Spencer chuckles at the failed sales attempt, "Thanks but no thanks." She begins to walk away with a small wave at the sellers as she continues on her with walk down the hallway. " _Ha_." she scoffs, "Love gram."

…

"In the spirit of the day upon us, I've decided to slow down with the lesson today since you guys have a test on Thursday. Instead of talking about ancient history, let's talk about modern day history," Spencer's young history professor, that goes by the name Ms. Jasper, puts down the study guide after going over what to expect on the test. "How many of you guys are celebrating Valentine's Day today?"

"Valentine's Day sucks." A random student says out loud making the class chuckles and murmur in agreement.

"You're right, Michael," Ms. Jasper leans her back against the whiteboard in the front center of her class, "Valentine's Day _does_ suck. And you know what else sucks?"

"50 Shades of Grey?" Another student speaks out loud.

" _Yes,"_ She points at the student, "The book is garbage. Don't waste your time to watch it this weekend because you won't get a refund." The professor crosses her arms as she mutters to herself, "I've read Fanfiction better than that….. _Anyways_ -"

"Wait, what?!"

"You read fanfiction, Ms. Jasper?!"

"What kind of fanfiction do you read?!" A small percentage of the class starts commenting all at once on the slick remark.

She chuckles to herself as she waves downs the students," _Nonono_. That conversation is for a _whoooole_ 'nother day. _However_ , although that movie does suck, Valentine's Day sucks because people suck. Specifically men. Men suck."

The classroom, which holds predominantly women, laugh in agreement as the teacher starts getting comfortable into her causal talk rather than a lecture.

"No, it's just that you women are crazy. Crazy and emotional." A male classmate responds causing the men to agree with him.

"See, that's what you guys say all the time but it's not true!" Ms. Jasper begins the debate, "See, I have a lot of girlfriends and hang out with them all the time. We are super cool, rational, logical…but then the moment they start dating some dude, they _lose. their. mind_. Women are not crazy, you guys freakin' make us that way." The female side of the classroom vocally harmonize as they back their professor up. "I feel like you guys think we _chose_ to be crazy. Like that's an active choice. You guys think we wake up on any giving morning and just _decide_ we're going to have a terrible day. But I think it's funny that guys are never called crazy because I feel like guys do things…that are _crazy_ , you know? But guys are _never_ called crazy. For a guy to get called crazy, he has to be like…like naked in an alley….masturbating over a dead pigeon, singing bible hymns." The class erupts into laughter as Spencer crosses her arms, giggling at the comedy coming out of her history professor. "But even then we're like ' _Oh my gosh, that guy is homeless! That is so sad._ ' But for a girl to get called crazy, we just have to send you two text messages in a row." She holds up her phone as she imitates a guy's voice, " _She's freaking crazy, man. She's freaking stalking me, bro. She's obsessed with me, dude._ " The professor makes herself laugh midway as the classroom continues to laugh. "Valentine's day sucks because it should be a day that should be celebrated every day. Not just because some fat baby says it's time to treat the other person." She shrugs her shoulders as she lifts up her hands, "Granted I might sound a little _bitter_ because I am speaking as a single female on the day of "love", but seriously. You love someone, like someone, want to show someone appreciation, don't wait for the second month of the year to do it and then act shitty the other 11 months. People don't genuinely ask for much, it's just the _little things_."

"Do you have any horror Valentine's day stories, Ms. Jasper?" A students asks.

"Horror Valentine's day stories?" She taunts, "More like casual horror stories." The professor pulls up a chair and sits on it backwards, facing her students. "Okay one time, I was at this bar…"

...

Leaving the building to be greeted by the cold, nippy winds and white fluff on the grounds, Philadelphia began their first snowfall during the past weekend. Getting out of classes with enough time on her hands before the need to go back to her dorm, Spencer mentally debates with herself as she's trudges through the wet grounds in the direction of her College House. _Valentine's Day doesn't only mean romantically, it's platonic too. Maybe….Maybe I should get Aria a gift. Platonically. Yeah, I mean why not? Yeah…Yeah, I'm going to do it._ Spencer keeps her the path past her dorm towards the parking garage. _Wait….What am I gonna get her? This is soooo last minute. What would she like? What would be a 'not last minute looking' gift to gift someone? Candy? A toy? Think, Spencer, think. You live with this girl, what does she like?_

…

Parking her car into the parking lot of a well-known business, Spencer pulls back the door handle and breathes in a smell she doesn't particularly care for but Aria does.

Books.

"Welcome to Barnes & Noble. If you need anything, just let me know okay?" A cheerful B&N worker passes by Spencer with a box of fresh new books in her hands.

"Uhm, yes, actually." Spencer calls out for the worker as she catches up to her, taking off her gloves and putting them inside her pocket so her hands could breathe.

"Yes, what can I help you with?"

"So…I wanted to buy a few books for someone but don't know where exactly to start. Maybe if you could recommend me to some really good best sellers…?"

"Of course! We have a little aisle just for that." The worker directs Spencer to the _"Must Reads Of 2014"_ section of the store ranging in my books of all types.

"Now do you know what kind of books this person likes to read?"

"Uhmm…" Spencer tries to recall as she looks down at the different book covers, "Well she's always up for an adventure. Anything that can suck her up and make her feel one with the story is definitely something I'd think she'd be interested in."

"We have just the selections for exactly what you need." The employee places the box she had in her hands on the floor then reaches for several different books, giving a quick synopsis for each of them. The worker gives her own opinions on the books she has read to help Spencer make her decision as to what would be a good gift. Placing herself as if she was Aria, Spencer looks through the book selection, looking at the covers, summaries and reading a quick few pages of each book to see what seems interesting right away. Limiting her options from a whole book shelf full of books, Spencer looks at two in particular books in her hands. She decides that they are keepers as she continues to stroll down the aisles to see what else could be contenders for a gift. _"Best Books of the Year So Far: 2015"_ Spencer spends about ten minutes going through each book, giving them a quick skim. Adding another selection to the books in her arms, Spencer does one final stroll as she wanders up and down the aisles to see anything else that could pop out at her.

…

"Alright, so you're total is $55.14." The cashier rings up as she places Spencer's books in a bag. Spencer mentally cringes at the price as she goes into her wallet and pulls out the amount needed. _She better love these books because this money could have been used on food._ Spencer hands the girl sixty dollars and begins to put her gloves back on. "Are these books for yourself?" The cashier asks as a quick small talk.

"Um, no." Spencer politely corrects her, "I'm just buying this for someone as a gift."

"Aww, a Valentine's gift?" The employee gushes with a smile as she counts Spencer's change.

"Yes- _uh no_." The brunette quickly injects as she begins to confuse herself, "I mean, yes but _as a friend, of course._ Sh-she's just a friend."

"Oh, okay…" The girl smirks as she rips out Spencer's receipt and hands her books. "Enjoy the rest of your day. Come back soon!"

…

"Hi!" A girl call out to Aria as she bypasses them. Aria walks towards the table, checking out what they have to offer, "Would you like to buy a Love Gram for a special someone today? We only have a couple more hours before we have to send them out later today. For just $10, we can help make Valentine's Day very special between you and that hot someone in your life." The girl optimistically proposes her sale pitch.

"Oh thank you but no thank you!" Aria smiles at the two girls behind the table, "I'm already getting a gift." Aria thanks the girls once again before she waves away, eagerly trying to get to the parking garage.

…

Parking her car into the parking lot of an established business, Aria walks through the automatic doors and breathes in a smell she doesn't particularly care for but Spencer does.

Sports equipment.

"Welcome to City Sports! If you need anything, just holler at me. Alright?" The sports employee winks as he touches Aria's arm in an encouraging manner before he walks off.

Aria grabs a newsletter paper from a rack and looks up at the aisle labels hanging above each aisle until she finds the one she's looking for. Grabbing an idle cart, Aria skims through the different sections of the aisle as she begins to get a little shop happy. Throwing in different kind of products that she'll think would make a perfect gift package, Aria looks at the available coupons to see what she can get taken off so her bill won't be so expensive.

"You play…?" A young patron standing beside Aria notes as he points to her cart.

"Huh?-Oh no." Aria laughs, "No this is-I'm buying for someone as a gift."

"Valentine's gift, huh?" He smiles back. He reaches into the cart and grabs one of the products Aria placed inside, "Whoever he is…he's a lucky guy having a girl buy all this for him."

"Well he is a she so…" Aria corrects but quickly recovers when she sees the guy's facial expression changed to a surprised smirk, "But she's just a friend. Sh-she's my roommate and I thought it would be nice to get her something. _A-as a friend, of course_." Aria forces a laugh as she managed to jumble out everything every so quickly.

"Well _she's_ lucky to have a friend like you." He smiles an encouraging smile, "You take care, okay?"

"Yeah, you too…" Aria waves at the guy as he walks out of the aisle. Aria looks back into her cart and laughs to herself as she continues on with her shopping. " _Oooh_! This is _so cute_!"

….

Unlocking her dorm door, Aria hides the bags behind her back as she calls out for Spencer to see if she's there. Hearing nothing back in return, Aria mentally gives herself a pleasing yes as she hangs her keys by the door and skips over to her room. She stuffs Spencer's gift underneath her bed and takes off her coat, gloves, scarf and hat and places them where it needs to be. _I need to go take a shower._ Aria thinks to herself as she walks over to her dresser. She pulls out some comfy attire and quickly hops into the bathroom before Spencer gets home. She wants to look at least semi presentable when she gives Spencer her gift. _I really hope she likes it because that money could have been used on snacks._

…

Coming out of the shower towel drying her hair, Aria hears her phone ring inside of her room. Hurrying, hoping it was Spencer, Aria checks the caller ID just to see it was an acquaintance from one of her classes.

"Hey."

….

"Nothing really, just came out of the shower."

….

"Yeah, I think so. It's probably somewhere in my bag. Do-do you need it?"

….

Aria smirks into the phone. "You didn't do it, did you?"

….

"Alright, alright, _alriiiight_. I'll be right over and give it to you."

….

"Yes you do owe me." Aria responds as she digs into her bag for an assignment, "You owe me big time."

….

"Ok, be right there."

….

"Bye."

Aria ends her call and finds the work handouts her English professor assigned. Heading towards the door, she slips on a pair of slippers and grabs her keys to go meet her friend who is in desperate need for some cheating.

…

Spencer unlocks the dorm door and listens to see if she hears any noise from Aria. Noting how quiet the dorm is, she places her keys on the hanger and notices Aria's keys aren't there. _Yes, made it in before she did._ Spencer walks over and unwinds in her room. Taking off all of her winter gear, Spencer puts Aria's gift in the closet just in case she comes in early and exposes everything. _Let me…let me take a shower really quick._ Spencer ponders to herself as she pulls out cozy clothes to wash away the filth of the day.

…..

Thirty minutes after Spencer initially began her shower, Aria returns to the dorm and absent-mindlessly hangs her key on the key hanger. Hearing more jingling than normal, Aria looks to find Spencer's key hanging as well. Before she was able to react, Spencer emerges from her room.

"Hey, Aria." Spencer greets as she begins to walk towards the smaller brunette with her gift behind her back.

" _Heeey_ , Spence." Aria widely grins as she crosses her arms in slight nervousness, "What's up?"

" _Well_ …I have something to tell you." Aria's face turns from happiness to concern as her mind wanders to what the possible news could be. "Getting to know you and having you in my life as a friend has definitely been a highlight of my college experience. At first you were a major pain to me but now you are this…" Spencer smiles as she looks down, trying to find the words, "funny, compassionate, intelligent person that I couldn't better ask for. Even though we have our ups and downs sometimes, I'm grateful that I know you and you're in my life. Hopefully we can continue this friendship for years and years to come." Spencer pulls the green and white Barnes & Noble bag from behind her back, "Happy Valentine's day, Agnes."

Aria's mouth drops with her hand instantly covering it. She looks up at Spencer with flabbergasted eyes as she slowly walks over to her in pure joy. "Spencer…you….you didn't." Aria eyes the fresh, brand new books Spencer brought for her.

"These books are the must read of the year. Figured that you'd want some more books to add to your little library in that room of yours." Spencer leads Aria to the couch as Aria is still shocked over the surprise gifting. "This one is called _"The Good Girl_ ". It's a psychological suspense and thought you would enjoy it. It's a wild story that exposes how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems." Spencer recalls what she remembers what the Barnes & Noble employee told her and what she learned for herself.

"Yes!" Aria nods her head with her mouth still hanging open as she looks over the cover of _"The Good Girl"_ book.

"And this one is called, _"Everything I Never Told You"_." Spencer picks out the other book, "Secrets, death and everything in between to make a good scandal. The author tells a story bigger than whatever is behind the crime." She hands the book to Aria and reaches into the bag for the two other remaining books, " _The Nightingale_ and _Persepolis_. Nightingale is a historical Word War II story written about the examination of life, love, the ravages of war, and the different ways people react to unthinkable situations during the life of these two French sisters. And _Persepolis_ isn't new but definitely is something to have if you haven't heard this story."

"I've never heard of _Persepolis_ …" Aria examines the last book, "What is it?"

"It's a graphic novel about the life of an Iranian woman named Marjane Satrapi. It is _so amazing_ , I guarantee you that you'll enjoy it. We can even watch the movie when you're done with the book." Spencer smiles as she playfully elbows Aria who is still in shock and awe.

"Spencer I…." Aria shakes her head as her eyes float from the books and into Spencer's eyes, "I don't even know what to say. This-this is amazing. Thank you!" Aria wraps her arms around Spencer's neck and pulls her into a tight embrace. Spencer laughs as she rubs her back, "Don't even worry about it. Thought it would be something nice to give."

"Don't move." Aria points at Spencer as soon as they pull away, "Don't move your head or anything. Just sit right here. Okay?" Spencer nods and Aria gets up and quickly runs past her. Spencer hears some rustling coming out of Aria's room for a brief moment when she pops out of her room with her hand behind her back as well.

"Happy Valentine's day!" Aria beams as hops back on the couch, revealing a plastic bag from behind her. "It might not be nicely wrapped up but it's the inside is what counts." She hands Spencer the City Sports bag, "I know that you love Field Hockey and Lacrosse and since Lacrosse season is literally around the corner, I wanted to help you gear up with some cute sportsy-things." Spencer laughs as she digs into the bag and pulls out an assortment of products. "I got you some colorful, mid-calf and knee-high LAX socks that you could look sexy in when you're kicking ass, a few cute lacrosse sweatpants to look sexy while you just lay around, some dog tags, bracelets, beanies and other accessories to look sexy in when you wear them. Aaaaaand these cute mouth guards!" Aria picks up the pack of mouth guards she brought, "These are Tapout fangs mouth guards that way you can scare you competitors."

Spencer grins as she holds all of her new things in her lap as if she was 11 years old and it was Christmas morning. "Thank you so much, Aria but…I don't even know if I'll make the team this year."

"Are you kidding me?!" Aria gasps, "Of course you're going to make the team. UPenn would be freaking _blessed_ to have you, Spencer Hastings, on their team! They should be begging you to join them."

Spencer cocks her head to the side as she continues to gaze at Aria who is ever so bubbly in front of her. Aria leans to the side against the couch cushion as she smiles back at Spencer, causing the two sit in silence for a moment. "Thank you, again." Spencer extends her arms and brings Aria into another hug. As Aria squeezes herself into Spencer, Spencer can't help but feel a sudden change.

As if the sound waves within the air changed frequencies.

Everything slowed down and her stomach dropped with instant anxiety.

She felt the impulses.

She felt what her body wanted to do.

And when Aria slowly pulled herself away, she felt what she was about to do.

Spencer's hand moved from behind Aria's back to the sides of her neck when she pulls Aria in for a kiss. Startling the smaller brunette, Aria backs up a few centimeters. Saying nothing, Aria looks into Spencer's dark brown eyes with daze and confusion. They search into each other's eyes for a moment before Spencer gently pulls in Aria again. Feeling Aria slowly kiss her back causes her entire mouth to tingle as Aria's soft lips presses against hers with slow closed mouth pecks. Leaving her lips on Aria's for moment before knowing she has to pull back, Aria's hands wonder up to Spencer's cheeks as she opens her mouth for a gradual passionate kiss, causing Spencer to open her eyes, initially amazing Spencer at Aria's desire to continue. Seeing that Aria's eyes are still closed as she pulls her face into hers, Spencer melts into Aria's mouth once she feels Aria's tongue brush lightly against hers, causing shock waves to run up and down her spine. Gently sucking on Spencer's bottom lip when the two separate, Spencer slowly opens her eyes to see Aria's big hazel eyes. Aria smiles as she continues to stroke Spencer's flustered cheeks.

"Oh shit…" Spencer whispers.

 _ **But that wasn't the reality of what happened.**_

Aria pulls away from the hug and notices Spencer slight fidget. "Are you ok?" Aria looks down, pointing to Spencer's arms, "You have goosebumps."

"Oh, uhm…"Spencer unconsciously takes her left hand and rubs her arm as she forces out a laugh, looking down at her gifts in her lap, "I just felt a cold breeze, that's all." She hesitates to look up at Aria's eyes knowing what she just imagined, "Thank you for the gifts… _really_. I-I love it."

"Anything for you, Spence!" Aria rubs Spencer's thigh before she jumps off the couch, "Now go put on those clothes, I want to see what you look like in them. I had to guess your size so what I want to see if they fit."

"Yeah…sure." Spencer watches Aria walk into the kitchen as she rises off the couch. She mentally thanks the heavens that she's a female because if she was a male…

She'd have the biggest boner right now.

 **Wooooooooah Nelly. Something is starting to stir within someone...**

 **Platonic Valentine's Day...sureeeeee**


	14. Chapter 14: What Is This I'm Feeling?

**For the person who guessed what small part of the teacher's rant came from last chapter, claps to you! I was watching Whitney C's stand up and was in deep laughter as I was writing that part.**

 **To Siretha Elaine: IDK if you got my PM but yes you are correct! Those are the correct book titles. Trust me, you're going to** _ **love**_ **those books! Thank you for your kind words! They really warmed me!**

 **This fic is rated M for future chapters, of course ;)**

CHAPTER #14: What Is This I'm Feeling?

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

Laying on her bed, Spencer relaxes into a sitting position as she blankly looks at her computer screen in front of her; only with racing thoughts protruding her mind. Except her thoughts are more like a pep-talk with a mini Spencer.

 _What are you thinking, Spencer?_

 _Seriously._

 _What is going on with you right now? Aria is your roommate. She's your-your friend! You don't have feelings for her. You don't have feelings for girls, period! You know what? You're just liking the friendship. You're liking the attention she gives you. As a friend. That's it. You don't like her more than that. And you're definitely not sexually attracted to her. Ugh, Spencer...You need to get out more. You're in this dorm with her all the time. You need to make more friends, meet new guys, and go on dates. Not imagine make out sessions with your roommate for a month and a half._

"Hey." Aria knocks on Spencer's door as she slowly opens.

More tense than usual, Spencer subtly jumps at Aria's sudden appearance, "Uhm-hi-hey! Hey." Spencer glances between Aria and her computer, "W-what's...what's up?"

"Nothing. Want some company?" Aria smiles as she hugs one of her newly gifted books tightly to her chest.

 _Nononono. No! You do not need any company, Spencer. Tell her NO._

"Uhmm, sure. I-I don't mind."

 _Spencer, c'mon! I raised you better than this!_

"Good!" Spencer scoots over to the side as Aria jumps into the open space like a small child. "I think I'm going to start off this book first." Aria shows her the _"Everything I Never Told You"_ cover causing Spencer to put on a forced smile and nod. "I'm a sucker for lies, scandal and secrets...when it doesn't involve me of course." Aria giggles as she gets herself comfortable on her stomach, laying side by side next to Spencer who is doing everything in her power to limit her eyes wandering anywhere past her computer.

 _Now look at what you did. Look what you invited in! You invited in the whole root of your problem! Didn't we just talk about this?! Ok, ok. Since you wanted to derail from the original plan, now we have to bring in phase two. Do not start a conversation. Only talk when she asks you a question. And with that, limit your answers to short and quick responses. If she's just talking, just grumble your replies back. No conversations. Like at all! Look at your computer, put in your headphones and just...do something. Pretend she doesn't even exist..._

Spencer lets out a small sigh as she plugs herself into her computer. She opens her music study playlist, starts up a word document and begins to start on an assignment.

...

 _8:15pm_. Spencer looks at the time on her computer as she uploads her assigned work on her school's blackboard site. Feeling a small brushing sensation on side, Spencer looks down to see Aria's bright pink ankle socks brushing against her as the smaller brunette's legs lift up and down as she laid, completely occupied into her story. Spencer closes her eyes and presses her lips inward as the mere touch was starting to send small shivers everywhere. Something that Aria normally did when she was reading, at that time had no effect on her, is now making her feel differently. Spencer closes her laptop as she swiftly swings her legs off the bed, causing Aria to look up at her.

"I'm just…going to the kitchen real quick." Spencer speaks up, shifting her eyes from Aria to the floor as she shuffles around the bed and out of her room.

 _Great, genius. If you couldn't be any more obvious._

Spencer walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge door to scan for something to eat. Instead of scanning for a snack, her brain scans with more thoughts from her bully of a conscience.

 _You know what? You're doing this to yourself. You never had a problem with any of this before. But now...now you're letting it bother you. You don't have feelings for Aria. You DO NOT have feelings for Aria. You and I both know this is ludicrous. That- that guy that works at the front desk of the College House...what's his name...? Anderson or something? Yeah, talk to him tomorrow. Talk to him to get your mind off this chick because you've now gotten to the point that her pink fuzzy socks are sending you over the edge if they touch you! Ridiculous! You need to get it together, Hastings._

...

For about half an hour, Spencer finds herself in a YouTube loop watching from inspiration lectures and debates all the way to watching fan edits of her favorite TV shows; occasionally, taking a peek of Aria flipping pages right beside her.

Nearing 9 o'clock, Spencer's eyes begin to droop and she goes through the process of turning off her laptop and putting it on the nightstand next to her. Rubbing her eyes, Spencer feels that Aria's legs aren't moving nor is she hearing any rustling of book pages. The a lamp being the only source of light in her room, Spencer glances over to see Aria face laid sideways as she holds the open book still in her hands. In this situation, Spencer would normally wake Aria up and she'd go to sleep in her own room but, at this moment, Spencer is yet again conflicted.

 _Now, look what we have here. Aria is asleep in your bed._

 _Not hers but yours._

 _She would be asleep in her OWN bed if you'd never invite her inside in the first place. Now you have only one option. Very easy option. Wake her up and have her walk to her own room._

 _You don't want to do that?_

 _What do you mean you don't want to do that? There is nooooo other choice, Spencer!_

 _No. Nonono. You're not carrying her to her bed. She's not a child. She might have the height of a toddler but she's in fact a grown toddler. There will be no alternative where skin to skin contact would be made. Focus, Spencer, focus. Tap her on her shoulder and send her on her way!_

 _WHAT? You don't want to wake her or move her so you rather just sleep with her?! Now you have certainly lost your mind. With the thoughts you're thinking and the scenes you're imaging, you are NOT going to be sharing a bed with her. You're beginning to sound like a teenage boy!_

… _.Spencer stop….._

 _Why are you walking over to your closet?_

 _What is that blanket for? Are you that col-why are you covering Aria with a blanket?_

 _Spencer, stop. Stop this!_

 _Turn that lamp light back on and kick her out of your room!_

 _Don't get under your sheets!_

 _Spencer! Spencer! You did not fall asleep that fast! Get up! There is still a body that doesn't belong in your bed!_

...

Looking around in the dark room, Aria gets up from her sleeping position and groggily crawls higher up the bed next to Spencer. Feeling the sheets moving around, Spencer squints open her eyes to hear Aria adjusting herself more comfortably inside the bed. Being the double twin bed that it is, Aria scoots back away from the edge, faintly having her backside against Spencer front side. Spencer's widen although she can't see anything other than darkness. If she was to inch just a bit farther up, they would be in full blown spooning mode.

And how tempting her impulses were.

How tempting that thought was.

How simple she could easily inch forward.

Spencer switches her position from laying sideways to lying on her back. She looks up at the ceiling as she lets out a loud sigh.

The last thing is she needs is temptation.

...

As Spencer & Aria get ready for yet another day, looking in the mirror, Aria opens her makeup bag and begins to start applying her daily amount of makeup. Fully into getting ready, she doesn't see Spencer leaning against the bathroom doorframe. As much as neutral Spencer tried to convey outside, in the inside she was just filled with adoration. She walks into the bathroom and stands behind her,

"Looks like you could use a pair of extra hands. Need help with your hair?" Spencer asks in a friendly tone as Aria looks up at through the mirror, stopping her eyeshadow process with her hair in a ponytail, yet to be touched.

"Sure," Aria smiles as she hands Spencer her brush. "I'm kind of running late anyways. I should woke up when my first alarm went off.

As she unties her ponytail, Spencer takes the brush and begins to slowly brush her delicate brown hair, from scalp to ends, slowly and firmly. Cupping folds of hair in her hand and dreamily swiping through, Spencer runs her fingers deep into her hair and massage her scalp as she brushes. Aria stops mid-way of beginning to apply her eyeliner when she closes her eyes in relaxation.

"Wow...Someone over here has magic fingers." Aria breathes out as Spencer continued on.

Feeling her soft hair in her fingers and her sweet scent filling her senses, urges takes control and Spencer bends down and places a kiss on her neck. "I'm glad you like it."

Spencer immediately regrets her sudden move and was expecting a jump back from Aria but, instead, she just tilted her head more, beckoning another kiss. Hesitating what her gesture could possibly mean, Spencer duly obliges, although longer this time. She purses her lips into her neck, slightly sucking to draw the skin in. Still brush and caressing her hair, she remained kissing her neck, slowly moving to various places. Aria quietly sighs with pleasure as Spencer tilted her head to the other side, sweeping her hair over to get another clean kiss.

Before Spencer could move anywhere else, Aria turned to face her, wrapping her arms around the taller brunette's neck, drawing her close. She kissed her full on the lips, no hesitation with her tongue intertwining with Spencer's.

Feeling the electricity flowing through her, Spencer moaned into Aria's mouth and broke from their kiss. Aria looked deep into those dark, hypnotically beautiful eyes as she tenderly ran a finger down the back of her neck, doubling up the amount of electricity Spencer's feeling.

"Everything okay?" She asked, stroking her fingers through her hair.

" _Perfect_..." Spencer replied in a hushed whisper.

Just then, the bathroom was filled with angelic sounding music, causing Aria to look around. "Where is that coming from?"

"Where is what...?" Spencer asks half concerned, half wanting to continue on the path they were going as she slides her hand down the small of Aria's back, not even caring if they do miss their first morning class.

Aria takes an arms away from Spencer's neck and stops Spencer's hand from sliding any farther. "That noise." She asks a little more seriously than before.

Spencer shakes herself out of her daze to hear the sound Aria is referring to. Her eyebrows raise as the sound becomes louder and louder. "That...that sounds like my phone alarm."

"You mean you're still sleeping?" Aria confused eyes stare into Spencer's as she is still wondering why her alarm is so loud.

"Huh?"

"You're still sleeping." Aria reiterates with a nod of confirmation.

Spencer's eyes shoot open as her phone alarm rings loud and early. Spencer throws a lazy hand out to her night stand and swipes the alarm off before it wakes up the whole floor. Realizing that everything, every single thing, was yet another fabric of her imagination causes Spencer to groan out in frustration. Stretching out her body, Spencer leg brushes against another leg, causing her to immediately turn her head.

Aria is sleeping next to her.

That part wasn't a dream.

…

"I once saw a poster that proclaimed that " _Every man should build a house before he dies._ " The poster attributed it to Plato. When I was 35, I did it. I designed my own house. A great builder helped me build it. Our family has enjoyed the house for many years. Designing a house or even outfitting an apartment or a room of your own in which to live is certainly a time to become philosophical. It is a time to consider ones beliefs about the constructed environment. Whether we rent, purchase, or build a place to live, we reveal our belief system by the choices we make. Two important branches of philosophy, aesthetics and ethics, often come home to visit each other during the choices we make when designing the place in which we live."

As Dr. Hasleberger started off with his lecture for the day, Spencer couldn't help but take sneak peeks at Aria sitting ever so attentively next to her. Completely ignoring everything her professor was saying in front of the class, Spencer scribbles meaningless shapes and signs in the corners and sides of her sketch book all while she replays the last moments of her dream.

 **Aria looks up at through the mirror, stopping the end of her eyeshadow process with her hair in a ponytail, yet to be touched.**

 _Over._

 **As she unties her ponytail, Spencer takes the brush and begins to slowly brush her delicate brown hair, from scalp to ends, slowly and firmly.**

 _And over._

 **Feeling her soft hair in her fingers and her sweet scent filling her senses, urges takes control and Spencer bends down and places a kiss on her neck. "I'm glad you like it."**

 _And over._

 **Before Spencer could move anywhere else, Aria turned to face her, wrapping her arms around the taller brunette's neck, drawing her close.**

 _Again._

 **She slides her hand down the small of Aria's back, not even caring if they do miss their first morning class.**

Turning her head with her eyes leaving her notebook, Spencer's heart skips a few beat as she makes eye contact with Aria who has been already looking at her. As Spencer gave a small smile, Aria looked down as if she was caught looking at something she wasn't supposed to, blushed then smiled with her eyes brightened as her cheeks raised, causing her eyes to wrinkle in the corners with happiness.

Three little things that made Spencer's heart drop.

 _I'm done. I'm so done. Fuck._

…

Leaving their art course, Aria and Spencer walk out of their building into a freshly white campus and people waddling, stuffed in their winter gear.

"He let us out a little later than usual…" Aria notes as she texts on her phone, trying to avoid any ice that might be left for her on the ground.

"Really? I didn't notice." Spencer replies as neutral sounding as she could, "Class in there just goes so fast. I don't even remember half the things he said."

"Yeah because you were over there doodling in your book." Aria teases as she bumps Spencer to the side.

 _SHE KNOWS. SHE KNOWS._

"I was just brushing up on my sketching skills." Spencer quickly covers herself before Aria could press on, "You know an assignment like that is coming soon. I just want to be ahead of the pack."

"Well look at you...trying to outdo all of us. That's not a fair way to play, you know that right?"

"Grades are never fair."

Aria giggles as she looks back at her phone, turning to Spencer, "Well, I have to run to my next class before Dr. Adams pitches a bitch. See you at home?"

"Yeah." Spencer nods with a smile, "I'll see you later."

Aria reciprocates the gesture, putting a hand on Spencer's shoulder before she walks off in a different direction, shuffling a little quicker than normal.

…..

From the moment they left Art class, Spencer's mind continued to stay warped throughout her other classes. Mindless tapping, thoughts taking their own control and drifting off, completely missing the valid points of the day's lectures from multiple professors. All she could think of is her rapid imagination.

 **Aria's hands wonder up to Spencer's cheeks as she opens her mouth for a gradual passionate kiss…**

 **She kissed her full on the lips, no hesitation with her tongue intertwining with Spencer's….**

 **Gently sucking on Spencer's bottom lip when the two separate, Spencer slowly opens her eyes to see Aria's big hazel eyes. Aria smiles as she continues to stroke Spencer's flustered cheeks….**

 **Aria looked deep into those dark, hypnotically beautiful eyes as she tenderly ran a finger down the back of her neck, doubling up the amount of electricity Spencer's feeling….**

And going back when Sarah seemed to foreshadow the very thing that has possibly lead up to everything she's feeling now

 **"Aria came for you earlier today." Sarah tells Spencer, lying back down.**

 **Spencer puts the cereal away, "I don't know who that is." Then she mutters under her voice, "And I don't want to know who she is."**

x

 **Sarah nods her head in the direction of the leaving brunette as she steps closer to Aria. "So you're taking Spencer away, huh?"**

 **"Yeah…I hope you're not upset about that or anything." Aria cautiously responds to Sarah, realizing that her only roommate is leaving her alone like how Katherine left her.**

 **Sarah chuckles as she downs the last remains of her drink, "Honestly, I thought you were going to move in here. You basically lived here in the last week of school, helping Spencer and all.** _ **But,**_ **looks like you two lovebirds are heading to the Montgomery suite upstairs."**

 **Aria awkwardly laughs, "Lovebirds?"**

 **Just then, Spencer emerges from the back room and enters the open area with an open, medium sized box. "Who's a lovebird?"**

 **"Apparently, we are." Aria pushes herself off the counter. "Well, according to Sarah."**

 **Spencer rolls her eyes as she walks to the corner of the kitchen bar. "Anything according to Sarah, you can bet is significantly off." She continues into the kitchen where the other two are huddled.**

"What would we call that, Spencer?"

Spencer quickly look up from her laptop and into the eyes of her Criminal Justice Professor standing in front of her, waiting on an answer.

"Oh-uhm…" Spencer puts a strand of hair behind her ear as she looks onto her document of notes, or the lack thereof, "Yeah, uhmm…I…I didn't quite hear the question since I was still behind jotting down notes," Spencer clicks her tongue as she puts on her fake yet concerned smile, "Could-could you repeat the question, please?"

"What Supreme Court case mandated that states provide lawyers for defendants who are unable to pay for them?" The professor reiterates the question for the second time.

"Oh, it was Gideon v. Wainwright, ma'am." Spencer answers with a slight sigh of relief in her voice.

"Hm." The professor gives the eyebrow as she writes the correct answer on the board, "You seem out of it today, Hastings." She remarks in front of the whole class which causes all eyes to shift towards the brunette.

"It-it's the cold. It's never been my friend."

"A little Theraflu before class might help bring down the fogginess." The professor continued with her lecture with, this time, Spencer trying her hardest to stay focused.

…..

 _Fuck._

 _fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…._

Spencer looks at herself in the mirror, drenched in cool water she had splashed in her face.

 _What the hell is going on with me?_

 _Is-is this lust? This has to be lust or-or something._

 _Yeah…that's all it is. This is pure lust. Not actually romantic feelings but just lust._

 _I don't have feelings for Aria. I have lust for a person because the lack of romance I've had in my life at this point._

 _Aria could have been anyone. She just so happened to live here._

 _I don't have feelings for her._

Just then, Spencer hears the sound of jingling keys followed by a click of the front door being unlocked. She grabs the hanging washcloth on the wall and dries her face to greet Aria.

Except…

It seems like Aria brought company.

"Hey, Spence!" Aria smiles as she turns around and locks the door behind her.

"Yeah. Hey, Spencer." Noel waves at the somewhat confused Spencer standing in the hallway.

"Hi…" Spencer squints her eyes with a slight hanging mouth as she watches Noel pull up a seat at their kitchen bar. "Aria. Can I talk to you for a second?" Spencer waves Aria into her room.

"Be right back." Aria places her hand on Noel's shoulder. "Make yourself at home." She leaves his side and walks towards Spencer as she begins to unbutton her coat. "Yeah?"

"I thought we had a system..." Spencer whispers as she crosses her arms with a hint of jealously in her tone. "No inviting people over without letting the other person know?"

Aria turns her head to the side with a confused smirk on her face, "I texted you earlier, telling you I was going to invite Noel."

"...You did?" Spencer checks her phone in her pocket and indeed, Aria sent her a text about an hour ago.

"Yeah. Don't worry." Aria laughs, "He'll leave soon and you'll be able to have me _all_ to yourself."

...

"So, Aria tells me you're planning on trying out for the Lacrosse team." Noel tries to strike up a conversation with Aria sitting by his side and Spencer digging inside of the kitchen for something to eat.

Spencer narrows her eyes, "She told you that?" Spencer answers with dryness as she looks down at her plate, tossing her Chef Boyardee can into the garbage.

"Yeah." Aria swivels from side to side in the kitchen stool with her leg brushing against Noel's, "Just trying to develop our own little cheering squad for when the season starts."

"How long have you been playing?"

"For a while now." Spencer faces away from the duo as she closes the microwave door and sets the timer.

"She's been playing since she was small." Aria adds onto Spencer's lack of a response, "She's _really_ good."

"How can you say I'm good when you've never seen me play...?"

"Because you're Spencer and everything you do you're golden at. Seeing you in action will only solidify my theory." Aria winks causing Spencer to shake her head to disguise her sudden blush.

Noel interrupts the moment by turning to face Aria, "Do you play anything, Ar?"

 _Ar?_

"Nah. Only the Blitz Society. Other than that, this girl doesn't participate in many injury prone activities."

"And you're really good in our Society. I'm not going to lie…." Noel rubs his hand over his chest as he flashes a smile, "Seeing you run around, taking out people...It kind of gave me a _rush_."

" _Uh_!" Aria gasps and slaps Noel on the thigh, Noel grabbing her hand in the process as he laughs, "Stop Noel!"

"Yeah, please." Spencer remarks facing away from the duo once again to retrieve her food, "That's _gross_."

"Oh don't worry, Hastings." The brunet turns back to Spencer who had turned to face him as well, "You were also very hot taking command as well. Made me feel like a man inside." He taps his chests in a suggestive manner causing Aria to playfully slap him again. Spencer gives him a fake, mocking smile before she reaches inside the drawer for silverware. Spencer walks over to the couch and grabs the remote to watch some TV, anything to drown out Noel's annoying laughter. Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees Aria leading Noel into her room with him closing the door behind him. The unexpected image makes Spencer stare at the door for, what felt like 5 minutes, 10 seconds.

 _Why is Noel in her room?_

 _What are they doing in there?  
_

 _Why did they close the door?  
_

 _What are they doing in there?  
_

 _Why couldn't stay in the Living Room?  
_

 _What are they doing in there?  
_

 _Why do they need to be alone?  
_

 _What are they doing in there?  
_

 _Why is Noel over here in the first place?  
_

 _WHAT. ARE. THEY. DOING. IN. THERE_?

 **Yikes. What** _ **are**_ **Noel and Aria doing in there?**

 **Does Spencer have the right to feel jealousy?**

 **What is going on?!**


	15. Chapter 15: Point To Be Proven?

**I needed to cleanse my soul from that A reveal so I took my anger and translated it into motivation to write.**

 **The books that I mentioned prior!**

 _ **Everything I Never Told You: Celeste Ng**_

 _ **The Good Girl: Mary Kubica**_

 _ **The Nightingale: Kristin Hannah**_

 _ **Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi**_

 **I'm not sure on the exact number of chapters this story will have but I will not drag it into a never ending story that's for sure. If anything, I would end this story and turn it into a series with Sparia at a different point in their lives together. Only if you guys want that :)**

CHAPTER #15: A Point To Be Proven?

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

Having her food long put away, Spencer sits on the couch.

 _Anxious._

Fiddling inside of a random app in her phone, with her body diagonally facing Aria's door, Spencer tries to distract herself. However, going through countless apps, all Spencer could do is mind the time.

 _6:33pm_

 _They've been in there for almost half an hour…_

 _They're doing it._

 _I know it._

 _There is absolutely no reason she would have a guy in her room for that long. There is no reason to have a guy in there period if you're not doing it._

 _I mean…_

 _Toby and I would be in my room with the door closed but we would do harmless things like play scrabble. But Noel isn't Toby. He's like this horny little boy within the body of a college guy. He's probably touching her...Rubbing her legs...Trying to work his grimy little hands in places they should not be._

 _...And Aria is probably letting him._

 **"For those of you who don't know what role-playing is, it's just like sex except its action." His comparison warrants a few laughs from the crowd causing him to continue, "For those of you who don't know what role-playing in sex is, I'm not going to explain it to you. But…I might just show a few." He winks at Aria, causing Aria to slightly blush and Spencer to roll her eyes.**

The mere thought makes Spencer shudder in disgust as she focuses her eyes back on her phone and not the imagery her brain is trying to paint in lack of knowing what's going on in Aria's room.

…..

 _6:46pm_

 _Aria, please. Of all people, please do not give anything up. To freaking Noel Khan no less._

….

 _6:55pm_

 _Isn't there a rule that you're supposed to put a sock or something on the door to let other people know you can't be disturbed? Right...? Right?_

…..

 _7:07pm_

 _It's been a whole hour. I…I….I'm going to text her. If she answers back, she's not doing it. If she doesn't….Well...she's going to answer._

Spencer goes into Aria's text conversation and ponders on the blinking cursor. _What should I say? Should…Should I ask her a question or ask for help?_ Spencer bites the inside of her bottom lip as she ponders what she should write without trying to be nosy.

 _Today 7:08pm_

Spencer: Do you have the notes from today's class? I missed some of his lecture and need to catch up.

The bothersome brunette deliberates on hitting send as she lightly taps her nail against the side of her phone. Before her finger had the chance to hit the send button, a sudden click causes her head to spin towards Aria and Noel walking out of her room.

 _Fully clothed. Clean appearance. No trace of any foul play._

Spencer tries to play it cool by laying back into the couch, changing over to a different application and visibly relaxes. Walking past the couch, Aria eyes glance down to Spencer, giving her a soft smile while Spencer reciprocates with a nod.

 _What the hell were you doing in there for an hour?_

Aria walks behind Noel towards the door before he turns around and murmurs something to her, too low for Spencer to make out. Unable to see the duo, Spencer perks her ears to try to catch onto any kind of little conversation they might make.

"….Tomorrow…" Noel inaudibly whispers.

"Yeah, sure…." Aria soundly agrees with a mumble back

"…Text you…."

"Ok."

There is a small silence between the two, making Spencer raise her eyebrow before the front door is unlocked, opened and closed again.

Dragging her feet all the way to the couch, Aria huffs aloud as she plops herself down next to Spencer. The skeptical brunette side eyes Aria, not knowing how to ask the question that's been burning inside her cell membranes for the past hour.

"Tired?"

Aria stretches her arms behind her as she arches her back off the couch, "Kinda." She looks at Spencer, "You've been out here the whole time?"

"Not really." Spencer nonchalantly lies, her eyes still discreetly glued onto Aria, "Just been back and forth." She hesitates for a moment but then just drives right in, "You guys were in there for a minute."

Aria pouts as she cocks her head to the side, "Really? I didn't really notice…"

"Mhmm." Spencer looks down at her phone as if she couldn't care less. "What were you guys doing in there?"

"Nothing, honestly." Aria rocks her body back and forth before she pushes herself off the couch.

Spencer notices Aria fleeing the couch and walk to the kitchen, away from Spencer's peering questions, "Really? So you guys weren't reviewing your monthly story for your book club? And here I thought the shocking assumption that Noel could actually read."

Aria gives a laugh as she opens the fridge, "Your humor never ceases to fail me, Spence."

Spencer realizes the deflection game Aria is playing and decides to leave it alone. At the end of the day, its Aria's business what she does with others. But no matter how much Spencer tried to ignore it, she can't help but kick herself with conflicting thoughts.

 _I like Aria._

 _Aria obviously doesn't feel anything towards me._

 _Aria likes Noel._

 _Noel is an ass._

…

Waiting in the gym for the day of Lacrosse tryouts Spencer sits the bleachers with other girls seating sporadically as they arrived a bit earlier than everyone else. Instead of worrying about the trails of the tryout, the brunette can't stop thinking of the not so revelation of where she's going with her feelings. _I want to tell Aria, eventually, but seeing how cozy she is with Noel, what's the point? What if I confesses the secret and Aria can't counter the feeling? Living together would be extremely awkward. Knowing what we both know, it'll actually wedge us apart. I can't. That's not a risk I want to take. With risks, you have to make sacrifices._ Already dressed out and ready, she searches the internet on her phone as she does a little bit of research.

" _How to Get over Someone That You Know Doesn't Like You"_ It's fact now, you know that guy you've had a crush on for so long is far from interested in you. Now what? You have to let him go, I know it's hard and it could take months depending on how much you liked him but here are a few steps to letting go forever.

" _How to Get Over Someone You Have to See Every Day"_ Are you finding it hard to go an hour - or even a minute - without thinking of your crush? If you know that things aren't working out with your crush, then thinking about him or her constantly is only going to bring you more pain and heartache. The good news is that if you put your mind to it, you can spend more time doing the things you love, being with the people you care about, and loving your life again. It can take time, but with enough determination, you'll be forgetting what your crush looked like in no time at all.

" _How to Get Over the Crush on Your Best Friend"_ Even though your best friend may like you a lot, you're not their number one. If you see them often, then getting over a crush may seem like an impossible thing to do. This page will help you to overcome the love you feel for your best friend.

…..

Feeling the tense tightening of her arm muscles, Spencer rotates her shoulders in a circular motion, giving herself a rub down as she passes the lobby of her College House.

"Hello!" A welcoming accent sounds following a warming smile from behind the front desk.

Spencer glances up to see who greeted her when her eyes focused in on the male worker. "Hi." The brunette smiles back, slowing her steps.

He points at Spencer's rub and twist combination to her arm, "Did you hurt yourself…?"

"Uhm," Spencer looks down at herself, dismissing everything with a wave of her hand and a shake of her head, "Just came from an ass kicking tryout, that's all."

"Tryout?" The worker's interest is visible peaked through his brown eyes. "What sport?"

"Lacrosse."

"Ah. An Ivy-League lacrosse player." He imitates with an approving smile.

" _Woah_ _there_ , buddy." Spencer leans on her side against the front desk counter, "I don't even know if I made the team yet."

"I'm pretty sure you did just fine… _buddy_." The employee mocks causing Spencer chuckle in silliness.

"Spencer." Spencer smiles as she extends a hand for an introduction.

The worker shakes her hand with a firm handshake, "Wren." _Oooooh. His name is not Anderson! That would have been embarrassing. How did I get Anderson out of Wren?_ "I do recall seeing you wonder around here quite a few times."

"Yeah. Doing errands probably." Spencer sighs, "I'm always running around."

"Well that's too bad." Wren tsks, shaking his head, "You should really take time out for yourself. You don't want to break down your body prematurely before it has to."

 _Hmm…Not bad looking at all._

"Those should be the words I live by." Spencer smiles then immediately winces at the sharp, throbbing pain coming from her upper arm. "But right now I could use the hands of a masseuse." She grumbles as she rubs her shoulder.

"Well, I may not be a masseuse _but_ I know how to relieve your pain. There is a technique I use to get rid of those nasty knots" Wren suggests, "But with big brother watching, I must keep my little fingers to myself or else that's a lawsuit." He wiggles his fingers at Spencer with a laugh.

"And I suppose we want to keep our job?" Spencer raises her eyebrow.

"I would like to, yes." Wren smiles back.

Spencer looks over the charming front desk receptionist with a smug smile before she pushes off the desk "Goodbye, Wren…." She smirks before she walks past the desk towards the hallway. "And keep your hands to yourself!" Spencer calls out.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Spencer smiles to herself as she walks in the direction of the staircase, heading up to her floor. _Hm. Wren…is kinda…cute. But how the hell did I think his name was Anderson?_

…..

Unlocking the door to her dorm, Spencer hangs her keys on the hanger and trudges towards her room.

"Hey!" Aria pops her head up from crouching down, looking inside one of the lower cabinets in the kitchen. "How did your tryouts go? Did you kick ass?"

"Ehh…" Spencer shrugs with a groan, not trying to go deep into a conversation, "I went in, did my best, and came out with a sprain in my shoulder."

"Oh no!" Aria dusts her hands as she quickly paces around from the kitchen and into Spencer's path. "Come here, let me see."

Spencer turns around and allows Aria to inspect her arm like a child pretending to play doctor. Having Aria so close to her, Spencer breathing becomes slower as her heartbeat quickens. The sweet, faint scent of coconut radiating from Aria's hair fills Spencer's senses as the smaller brunette's warm fingers tenderly runs across the tense muscle, pressing on a few spots.

"Ssssss!" Spencer pulls back suddenly causing Aria to jump and freeze apologetically.

"I'm sorry!" Aria quickly apologizes, cringing.

"It's…it's okay." Spencer grumbles, rubbing her arm, "I'm just really sore..."

"I have some pain relief cream in my room," Aria points out, "I can go grab it and see if we can work that knot out?" Aria asks already making her way towards her room when Spencer stops her.

"No…You don't have to do that." Aria stops in her tracks, gazing at Spencer with concerned eyes, "I'm just going to rest. That's all I need." Spencer treks towards her room with Aria following behind her.

"Okay….Well do you mind if I join you for another reading session? I'm getting to a pretty juicy part of my story and kinda need my reading buddy by my side."

Spencer opens her room door and turns around, standing in the entrance way, "Not today. I really rather be by myself."

"Oh…" Aria disappointedly replies with a touch of drawback in her voice. "Well-well yeah." She tries to recover with a forced smile, "You just came out of tryouts. You wouldn't want to be bothered by my emotional rantings."

"Yeah, not really."

Now visibly taken back, Aria quickly drops eye contact with Spencer as she nods her head, looking in another direction. "Okay. Well I hope you feel better." Without giving Spencer the time to respond, Aria walks away back into the direction of the kitchen. Standing alone in her doorway, Spencer slowly the door, leaning her forehead against it, mentally cursing herself at how that remark came out harsher than expected.

Standing the middle of the kitchen dumbfounded, Aria is frozen in spot not knowing how to react or what to do. Trying to justify in her head that it was the tiredness talking, that Spencer didn't really mean that.

 _How she said it._

 _She didn't mean it._

 _She didn't mean it._

 _She's just irritated because of her arm._

 _She…didn't….she didn't mean it?_

 _Did she?_

…..

Having not seeing Spencer since she shooed her away, Aria turns off the lights in the quiet dorm and walks into her room, looking at Spencer's door one last time because she closes her's.

 _Today 9:22pm_

Noel: I'm pretty good with my hands. I mean that's what most people say about me anyways.

Aria: That's pretty sad that a collective amount of people lied to you. Your hands are pretty rough.

Aria: And dry.

Aria: You should invest in some lotion.

Noel: I used up all of my lotion thinking about you.

Aria rolls her eyes at the last text Noel sent her as she tosses her phone to the side, not even going to attempt to swerve out of where the conversation is going. Grabbing her book, Aria opens where she last left off. However, as she reads, her eyes scan over the lines but her brain doesn't comprehend because all she can think about was how cold Spencer has been towards her. And noticing the time, this is the longest she's gone without seeing Spencer while they both were in the house.

 _Did I do something wrong?_

 _Did-did I say something to her?_

Hours later after the initial incident, Aria still cannot piece together what happened to make Spencer act the way she has been acting.

…..

Spending most of the Saturday morning by herself, Aria gets out of the bathroom, freshly showered wondering where Spencer went that she didn't give her a heads up. Although they don't owe anything to each other, it's was like they had this unspoken rule where they just let each other know where they're going. Just fyi in case something happened or such. But Spencer just fled the coup. Leaving before Aria woke up; Even though Aria did decide to sleep in late today.

 _Buzz! Buzz!_

Aria walks over to her phone charging on her phone, almost positive it's Noel.

 _Today 1:56pm_

Spencer: I'm bringing company over.

" _Company_?" Aria questions out loud, reading the only form of communication Spencer has had with her since she came back from tryouts. "Who is company?" Aria tries to pull up all the friends that Spencer has but can't think of anyone that is worth Spencer bringing over. Spencer is one for having her personal space _stay_ her personal space so Aria knows that she wouldn't bring just anyone to her dorm. For her to invite company, whereverever she is, is quite surprising. Especially since all the time they've lived together, Spencer has invited not one person.

Aria: Who is it?

…

About twenty minutes after Spencer sent her warning text, Aria hears the door unlock from inside of her room. Hesitating to get out of her bed, Aria waits for a moment so she wouldn't seem too desperate to see who Spencer brought home. Though, the instant she heard the sound of the other person's voice, Aria jumped out of her comfortable laying position and headed toward her door and into the living where the little get together was occurring.

Seeing Spencer's guest, initially caused her to slow down and wonder… _Who is this?_

"This is my roommate, Aria." Spencer points to the smaller brunette who is standing in the middle of the hallway, forgetting that she wasn't discreet and could be easily seen.

"Hello, Aria." They guest waves at Spencer's roommate.

"Hi…." Aria gradually greets Spencer's company as she begins to walk again, this time away from the two in the living room and into the kitchen.

"And Aria this is Wren." Spencer smiles as she looks in-between the two people she stands in the middle of.

Taking a good look at the guy leaning against their couch, Aria squints her eyes as she tries to recall a memory, "I think I've seen you somewhere before…."

"Ah, yes." Wren crosses his ankles as he gets comfortable, "I work as a receptionist at the front desk downstairs. Just a small job I take on. You know, just for the chump change."

Aria nods still with iffy eyes, "So do you go to school here or….?"

"Yes. Enrolled right in the Perelman School of Medicine."

"How long have you been in here?"

"Well I have already graduated. I'm now actually finishing up my MD before I start up my residency program."

"Then why are you hanging around undergrads like us?" Aria laughs a laugh that's more on the skeptical laugh than a genuine laugh.

Spencer cuts off Wren before he has the chance to answer, "Alright, Akinator. Let's try not to play a full game of 21 questions the moment someone walks through the door." She responds in a diffusing tone.

"I'm sorry." Aria lifts up her hands with yet another forced smile, "Just a curious person, here."

"Oh no," Wren looks up at Spencer before putting his sights back on Aria, "I don't mind the questions. It's good to really have a sense of knowledge who you're inviting to your place." He nods with a form of assurance, "That's very good, Aria."

Aria feels a wave of relieved tension that had set inside her as she looks away from the duo, pretending to be busy finding something to do in the kitchen.

"What would you say is your biggest obstacle in med school right now?' Spencer starts up their own private conversation as she sits down on the couch, Wren following suit right behind her.

As Spencer and her new apparent friend chop it up in the living room, feeling like the awkward third wheel, Aria grabs a water bottle and walks back to her room, without Spencer noticing.

Or at least that's what she thinks.

 **Ok, sidenote: I absolutely LOVE Spencer's look in the time jump. Just throw me out the window with those bangs. An older Sparia is just so adorable! (Even though I'm kind of writing an older Sparia – well not that much older – but just seeing it is 1000x better)**

 **So,** _ **Mr. I'm Not A**_ **Wren Kingston makes an appearance.**

 **First Noel.**

 **Now Wren.**

 **What position do these guys have in these girl's lives?**

 **Hmmm….**


	16. Chapter 16: Dark Eyes in the Darkness

**This is the longest chapter to date with over 6,000 words.**

 **Enjoy. :D**

CHAPTER #16: Dark Eyes in the Darkness

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

Hearing the faint voices of Spencer and Wren in the living room, Aria plops herself on her bed with a sigh. It was bad enough to be all alone in the dorm for most of the day, but to now be basically shunned to your room because your roommate has a guest is worse. Staring at the pale door in front of her, Aria lays back and grabs her phone.

...

"I think it's all atrocious." Wren places his hands in his lap.

"Oh, please do tell." Spencer adjusts her body to face Wren, attentively.

"America is just atrocious all around."

" _Hey, hey, hey…_." Spencer waves Wren down with a scrunched up face, "Only _we_ can say bad things about our country. You foreigners can't say anything." Spencer arches a brow as she side eyes him, "Even if I _do_ agree with you on some things."

"After living here all these years, I never quite understood how you people drink already liquidized, _cold_ tea. That just sounds inhumane."

"You've never heard of _ice_ tea?" Spencer sarcastically asks, "That's how you're supposed to drink it. Cold with ice."

"That's an abomination to tea drinkers everywhere." Wren scoffs unbelievably, "And when you all _do_ heat up your tea, you use a microwave. _A Microwave_!" Wren reiterates with a laugh, "You guys don't even use a kettle. How do you possibly make your tea?"

"Oh, actually we had a huge tea celebration in recent years. Big, _big_ party for tea."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Tea dedication _all the way_." Spencer rests her head on her palm, leaning against the couch, "First thing we did was take all the tea and...threw them in the harbor."

" _Oooooooh!_ " Wren throws his head back in hilarity with a several claps as Spencer looks over him in completely amusement at herself. " _Low blow_. That was a low blow, Spencer."

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

Spencer turns her head to face the door, wondering who could possibly be knocking. Before she has time to excuse herself to answer, a voice sounds from one of the rooms. "I got it!"

Walking out a little different then Spencer saw her not too long ago, Aria walks out of her room with her hair in a messy bun and pajama pants rather than the shorts she was wearing prior. Spencer's eyes follows Aria to the door, curious to see who the visitor is.

But of course she didn't have to be curious

When she already knew who it could have been.

"Hey," Aria greets Noel as he bends down to give her a hug. Seeing the two embrace, Spencer turns back to face Wren, not caring about seeing Noel again in her dorm.

Aria changes her sights to Spencer and Wren on the couch as Noel enters the dorm, "Okay, so Noel, this is Wren. Wren, this is Noel." She introduces as she closes the door behind the new guest.

"Noel…? As in Noel Khan?" Wren squints his eyes as he watches Noel slowly approaching the couch.

"Wren! My man!" Noel beams as Wren stands to his feet, exchanging a handshake followed by a bro hug.

"Long time no see!" Wren responds back with a laugh.

Aria and Spencer exchange surprised yet confused glances as they witness what seems to be two buddies reuniting. "You guys know each other…?" Aria mouth hangs in an awkward smile as the two guys separate.

"Yeah," Noel replies with his eyes still on Wren, "We met like maybe a year ago? Or something like that?"

"I would say it's been a year and some change, yeah." Wren agrees with a nod. "But how have you been? Looks like you've gotten bigger since the last time I saw you."

"Yep. I've been hitting the weights." Noel boats as he flexes his biceps, chuckling to himself. "But nah, man, I've been good. Just tryna graduate, already. How is grad school treating you?"

As Wren and Noel catch up in the middle of the living room, Aria awkwardly stands in place with a faint smile as she rubs her arm. She looks at Spencer who is just as surprised as she looks at the two guys, trying to pinpoint where they could have possibly met each other, seeing that Wren doesn't seem to be a party guy Noel is. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Spencer turns her head to meet Aria's. The smaller brunette, presses her lips inward as she widens her eyes as if she's telling her mentally, " _Well…this is interesting._ "

"So what brings you over here to these two's dorms?" Noel asks as he looks in-between Aria and Spencer.

"Oh, I'm a guest of Spencer." Wren informs Noel as he points at the brunette sitting on the couch.

"What a small world it is…" Spencer responds under her breath but was clearly loud enough for everyone to hear.

"It really is." Aria adds in, still standing behind everyone.

Noel fluffs his dark-rinsed denim jacket as he walks over to the single couch chair angled from the other couch on its left and the TV on its right. Spencer eyes' subtly widen as she watches Noel park himself in the living with them as Aria arches an eyebrow.

 _What the hell are you doing?_ Thought Spencer.

 _Nooo, what is he doing?_ Thought Aria.

Trying to hid her discomfort of having a group session in the living room she was trying to get out of, Aria puts on a smile as she lifts her hands in the air besides her, "Well…since this turned into an apparent hangout," she forces a laugh, "Would anyone like anything to drink?"

"Any tea that wasn't thrown in the harbor would be good for me." Wren replies, warranting Spencer to lightly shove him, causing them both to chuckle.

"What..?" Aria nervously laughs, not understanding the already quick inside joke between Spencer and Wren.

"I'm just kidding." He shakes his head, shooting Spencer a playful look, "Uhm...whatever there is to offer is well by me."

"Okay...Noel? Spencer?"

"Yeah, whatever you have is good." Noel responds back.

Aria turns to Spencer, as she has unintentionally volunteered to be the hostess for the evening.

"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Ok..." Aria silent mouths the words as she turns to the kitchen, trying to remember what drinks they have.

"Hey! I know that tryouts were yesterday. How did everything go?" Noel directs his attention to Spencer as he leans forward, putting his hands on his lap.

 _Now why the hell do you care?_

 _You're just trying to seem compassionate so you can get bonus points from Aria?_

 _Why aren't you two shacking up in her room again? I mean, that's the only logical reason you're here._

"It went ok." Spencer nods looking down at her fingernails as if Noel could possibly read her thoughts, "Won't know until Monday so…"

"More of all the reasons to keep your phalanges crossed." Wren teases Spencer with a quick nudge.

"Ok, so bad news." Aria announces as she walks back towards the living room, initiating everyone to divert their attention to her. "Spencer and I have yet to go grocery shopping this time around so our drinks are only limited to water. But looking on the bright side! Water is good for our bodies, right Wren?" Wren considerably nods his head with a pout of his lips.

"That's no problem." Noel gets up, dusting off his jeans, "Can't have a get together without anything to drink, right?"

"Oh, you're leaving?" Spencer lights up in an excited tone.

"I'll be right back." Noel walks past Spencer, placing his hand on her shoulder. Spencer burns his hand with her eyes at the mere exchange of touch, trying to hide her disgust.

"What kind of drinker are you, Wren?" The tall brunet snaps and points as he walks backwards, "Soda? Beer? Liquor?"

"Uhm…anything mixed lightly. I'm not too crazy for malt at this moment."

"Sounds good." Noel turns around only to be stopped by Aria.

"Noel, its ok. You don't have to do that." Aria whispers as they stand off to the side by the door.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Noel whispers back as he looks down at Aria's puppy eyes. "I'll even bring you some drinks so you can save for the fridge, alright?" Aria accepts the offer with a silent nod before Noel pulls her in with one arm, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"I'll be right back." Noel calls out once more as he exits the door, leaving everyone idling to themselves. Aria's eyes drift to Spencer right as Spencer looks elsewhere, pretending she didn't see what she saw. Aria slowly strides herself to the single couch chair Noel once sat with her eyes dragging the floor.

"So Aria, what are you majoring in?" Wren asks as he crosses his legs, trying to start up a conversation with this unknown roommate of Spencer's.

"English."

"Interested in the art of literature?"

"Yes." Aria smiles, "Very much so. I can't sleep without having something to read."

"I, myself, am interested in that as well. I actually have a pretty well stacked bookshelf with books I've collected over the years at my apartment. Both fiction and non-fiction books." Wren informs Aria with a small smirk.

" _Really_?" Aria inquiries with her eyes brightening, "I'm actually starting my own library in my room." Aria points to her bedroom down the hall. "What fiction authors do you have?"

"I have older authors like Hemingway, Tolstoy, Poe, Dostoyevsky, and Burgess. Now and then I like to dabble into the newer artists of the 21st century with the likes of Braffet, Nesbo and Flynn. Even tried Dukey. Too bad most good books are turned into movies today.

"Wait, wait." Aria stops him before he continues on, " _Dukey_? As in _Ker_ Dukey?"

"Now, before you say anything, I was bored and just checked it out. I got little intrigued and ended up buying it." Wren defends himself as if he had to defend his manhood.

"Ok but Ker Dukey?" Aria repeats herself, "You wouldn't happen to have _"I See You"_ ,would you?"

"And that's the book I'm talking about." Wren chuckles as Aria visibly gushes as if she's trying to obtain her inner fan girl.

"I've heard _so_ many good things about that book!"

"Yeah, it helps a tad when the author puts the disclaimer, ' _Before reading please place a condom over your head because it's about to be fucked'."_

"It says that?" Both Aria and Spencer ask at the exact same moment, although in different tones. Aria more intrigued and excited while Spencer is on the unbelievable side.

"Yep. Right there in the front. All my books are in prestige condition, even though I tend to immerse in the same ones four or five times." Wren chuckles causing to Aria laugh as well. "Maybe one day I'll allow you to " _check out_ " one of my books to venture into."

"Yes!" Aria leans forward. "That-that'll be amazingly perfect." Wren smiles approvingly with Aria's excitement radiating through her. She peeks over at Spencer, catching her in a full, head tilted to the side, staring moment. Not exactly knowing what that expression meant, Aria's smile slowly fades as she looks down to the floor.

...

Walking through the unlocked door, Noel returns about 15 minutes later with a few white plastic bags in each hand. " _Guess who's back...back again_?" He announces in a singsongy tune.

"Someone came back with some goodies." Wren greets Noel back, eyeing the bags he's carrying.

Aria rises to her feet and paces towards Noel to help him unload the things he brought back. As Spencer and Wren finish their little conversation they were into, Aria walks into the kitchen to grab four small glasses. "What did you get?

"Got some juice...club soda...some Chex Mix just because... _aaaaaaand_..." Noel replies as he takes the products out of the bags, "Some Grey Goose." He grins pulling out a large, clear bottle of liquor.

"You got vodka?!" Aria harshly whispers as she lowers her head, trying not to alert the attention of Spencer and Wren. "Why-why vodka?" The last thing Aria needs is for everyone to be heavily intoxicated with vodka in their systems on a Saturday night.

"Relax, Ar." Noel calms her down as he throws the plastic bags away. "It's not going to be consumed raw. That's why I got the chasers. We'll be fine."

" _Woah_. Where did you get all of that?" Spencer leans over the couch, peering into the kitchen, noticing a concoction of different things.

"Oh," Noel looks down at everything, "Since the cars are parked far and all the stores are even farther, I know this guy named Isaac who has like a local liquor store in his dorm. He basically sells all this shit. How he's hiding away from the TA? I will never know but at this moment I don't care." He proudly grins.

"With the grey and the club, you can make me a vodka soda." Spencer points out, having Aria immediately shoot her a surprised look. Never had she knew Spencer had a preference for liquor.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound bad, actually. Make that two of those, please." Wren tacks on to the list.

Noel scrunches up his face, "Vodka soda? _Vodka soda_?" He repeats in disbelief, "Vodka soda is so cliché. That drink is for people who are potentially boring and fearing experimentation."

"Hey…" Wren goes in to protest but is cut off by Noel.

"Luckily, you guys aren't those people. I got something even better than Vodka soda." He changes his sights to Aria, "Hey, Aria, can you open the lemon juice and club soda for me, please." Noel asks as Aria prompts to her instructions. "You want some or do you prefer some juice." Noel lowly asks the smaller brunette.

"I'm not _12_ , Noel." Aria rolls her eyes as she cracks open the Club soda. "What are you making?"

"It's called Cherry Slice." Noel walks over to their freezer to get some ice cubes for each of the four of high ball glasses, "Something nice and smooth. You'll like it." As the two work together to mix the drinks and get their little snack together, Spencer watches from the sideline as Wren is occupied by his phone. Observing her focus to the detail of mixing the drinks and the light smirk on her face made Spencer lightly swoon. She can't believe something so simple, something as basic as Aria squinting her left eye as she pours her a small portion of lemon juice into each glass could make her even more adorable then before. However, hearing the voice of Noel Khan beside her ruins any little picture she was painting in her head.

 _Are they dating?_

 _They can't be…Aria would have told me._

 _She likes him. I know she does. She called him over to have him all to herself but because Wren is here, her plans were foiled and now she has to go along with the idea of being in the living room with us._

 _That has to be it. There is no other explanation._

 _Man…..What the hell did they do in that room?_

"Alriiight." Noel interrupts Spencer's mid rage thoughts as he walks over to her and Wren with two glasses with clear, bubbly liquid and square ice cubes. "Here's a glass of Grey Goose's Cherry Splice. Unfortunately, I have no cherries to add to the drinks but you kids can use your imagination." He hands the cold glasses to both Wren and Spencer, Wren raising his glass in appreciation.

Walking behind him with a glass of her own and a bowl full of Chex Mix, Aria puts the snack down on the small table in front of the couch for anyone's liking. Noel takes a seat in the single couch chair as Aria takes a seat on the armrests, sipping on the freshly made cocktail.

"So, this thing going on right here." Noel waves his finger in a circle, pointing at Wren and Spencer sitting together with a curious grin, "Are you guys together or…?"

"Aha, no."

"No."

The two both correct Noel at the same time.

"But if she'd put the offer on the table, I surely won't turn it down." Wren gives a playful smile in Spencer's direction.

"Uhm, No." Spencer nips on her drink, forcing herself to laugh, "I just met Wren not too long ago. Definitely not dating."

Wren fake clutches his chest like a wounded soldier as he takes Spencer's decline with a smile. "But I'm assuming you and Ms. Aria are together, yes?" Wren diverts the question back to the other couple.

Spencer tries to hide her interest in the answer but the ways her eyes flickered towards Aria as she raises the glass to her mouth could pretty much give her away.

 _Yes, Aria. Riddle me this million dollar question._

"No." Aria chuckles looking down at Noel who so happens to look back up at her.

"You can say we're in prospecting mode." Noel adds in, not letting his eyes off Aria.

"Prospecting mode? What the hell is this? Football?"

All eyes shift to Spencer as she immediately looks back at the crowd, realizing she said that out loud in a mumble instead of in her head.

"What was that, Hastings?" Noel tilts his head with a furrowed brow, Aria following suit.

"I….I-I just didn't understand the term you used." Spencer sputters out, trying to hide her embarrassment but still trying to hold her ground. "You say that as If you're redshirting her."

Picking up on Spencer's comment, Wren adds in his two cents. "You two _do_ look like a couple. The hugging, whispering in the back, the quick pecks. Even the way you guys are _sitting_ is looking more dating then _prospecting_ , my friend."

"I mean, when the time comes and is right, we'll put a label on it." Noel defends the sudden accusations as Aria tries to avoid the eye contact Spencer has been making with her.

 _They totally did it._

 _I fucking knew it._

 _She can't even hold simple eye contact with me._

 _Ugh, Noel….so fucking gross._

…

After the next hour of sipping on mixed vodka cocktails, the four students enjoy themselves with a small conversation that varied about whatever is happening in life.

Well…

More like Wren and Noel having small conversation about whatever is happening in life with Spencer and Aria making minor responses but mostly discreetly looking at each other all night with different meanings behind their eyes.

Mostly Spencer saying, _what the fuck are you doing, Aria?_

Nearing the end of their random get together, Spencer focus changes from Aria to Wren, hoping that he can make it back home with no problem.

"Oh, I'm fine." Wren dismisses as he hands his empty glass to Spencer, "I'm not even on a buzz. I'll make it back ok."

"You're okay to make it back to your dorm?" Aria asks Noel simultaneously.

"If I say no….Do I get to stay here for the night?" Noel smirks as he leans against the armrest, resting himself on Aria's side.

"On second thought, get out." Aria playfully shoves him, making him slowly rise to his feet.

As Wren thanks Spencer for the evening, the two embrace in a friendly hug just in time for Spencer to see Noel pull Aria in for a hug and a kiss on her forehead. Every moment she sees Noel interacting with Aria just churns her stomach inside but since she knows it'll be seconds before he's gone, she tries to keep herself at bay.

With both guys leaving, Aria and Spencer are alone in their dorm once again.

But there is a weird vibe in the air.

As if this was their first time being alone together.

"Well…..that was interesting." Aria tries to start a conversation to stop the thickening air from choking her.

"Yeah….it was." Spencer slowly responds as she places the glasses in the sink.

"So, do you like him?" Aria leans against the bar, watching Spencer with inquisitive eyes. "Wren, I mean. He seems like a really cool guy."

"I mean….he's appealing."

"He's not bad looking at all. Pretty charming with the accent." Aria smiles.

"You find him attractive just because he has a shop-till-you drop book collection." Spencer mocks in a confusing tone that has Aria guessing if she's serious or playing around.

"What can I say," Aria takes a gamble for the teasing part, "I'm a sucker for books."

Having a hard time trying to come up with something to say, Spencer just nods her head as she puts the glasses in their set places. Maybe if she doesn't talk, she won't bombard Aria with a million and one questions of her status with Noel. But she doesn't want to bring him up after sitting unbearably in his presence for over an hour.

Taking the silence uncomfortably, Aria clears her throat, "So you know we have our first real competition tomorrow with the Blitz Society? Noel told me earlier today. You were gone all day so I didn't have the chance to tell you…"

 _And there his name goes again. I swear he's worse than the Black Plague, Yellow Fever, and Ebola put together._

"Really, tomorrow?" Spencer pretends to be interested.

"Yeah. We'll be playing as official members." Aria smiles again. "As Sparia again."

The random name dropping made Spencer look up at Aria's big, accepting hazel eyes. With a brief second of gazing, Spencer looks down as she proceeds to walk out of the kitchen.

"Well, I guess it's time to get some rest." Spencer walks around, the bar, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay." Aria agrees as she watches Spencer walk past her and walk into her room, closing the door behind her. "Okay…" She whispers to herself in the emptiness of the open space.

…

Dressed accordingly, set up, divided into teams and briefed, Spencer and Aria are working together as teammates again for their next roleplaying mission.

Their teammates consist of Max, from the previous game, five other players and two established head players: Justin and Noel. Finding out that Noel was playing, let alone sharing a team with her, Spencer was more than appalled. Unlike the first game they played, this game actually has incentives to win. During the two hour duration of the game, Spencer and Aria are the "Bandits", trying to get away from the "Black Agents" tailing them. Why would Black Agents chase after the Bandits?

 _They want Aria._

In the game, Aria is the prized possession the Bandits. Having a different DNA then everyone else, Aria has become very special cargo to both the bandits and the Black Agents. They're goal is to move her from point A to B.

Very simple.

However, it's not simple when you have obstacles, much ground to cover, and others trying to derail your mission.

Unlike the small zone of the University's school basement, the Blitz Society gained access to use a larger indoor training simulation center where people of Philly use to have their own friendly battles. However, coming in late in the day of 7:30pm, they get to utilize the building by themselves. Being able to use the darkness and lack of lighting to their advantage to make the game more interesting.

If the Bandits can successfully bring Aria safe and sound, each member will get a $100 gift card to spend on their liking.

Only catch?

You have to be alive to get it.

Looking more official then the last game they played in, Spencer and Aria are sporting a similar look. Along with accessories that were given to them, they both have on all black: Black jeans, black hoodies, black combat boots and a black half face mask that covers their nose on down.

"You guys are probably going to engage first….and then….I'm going to try to move you into the other side of the building," Noel announces to his team as he looks at the layout of the building on the paper in his hands, "I want to split into two teams. One team is going to be responsible for the actually transportation while the other is there to protect for the ambush. Five of us on the transportation team, the other five on the lookout team. If we make the transportation team bigger, we're more prone to be attacked." Aria adjusts her face masks as Spencer checks the weapons she's been assigned with, everyone else fixing themselves while listening to Noel give directions. "Justin, Max, Oscar, and Spencer, you guys are with me. We're going to be responsible for Aria while the rest of you guys will take cover." The called names walk forward towards Noel as Aria stays close by Spencer.

"How's my little Sparia duo doing?" Max whispers as he playful bumps elbow with Spencer, causing the two of them to blush and smile.

"Austin, you're in charge of the lookout team. I know you haven't had a leadership role yet so here's your chance to impress everyone." Austin gratefully takes the position and turns to the remaining players, giving them instructions on how they're jobs are going to be fulfilled. "Alright, Aria." Noel turns to the smaller competitor, "Your main priority is to stay safe. That means all the shooting and extra stuff? You're not 100% needed to do. You are the export but will have weapons on you to protect yourself. _BUT_ main goal for you is-"

"To stay safe." Aria nods through her face mask, "I got it."

"Good." Noel looks at the rest of his little team, all geared up and ready to go. He throws the hood over his head and pulls up his mask, "Let's go kick some ass."

…..

About an hour into the game, the Bandits have underestimated the strength and the strategic nature of their enemy counterparts. With Noel leading the pack, wherever they went, they would be sought out and chased down by whatever Agent lurked in the shadow. The constant running around, impulsiveness, not thought out decision making coming from Noel was beginning to anger Spencer. Whenever Spencer had an idea, she would be shot down. Anything alter decision Spencer would be against, Noel's choice would out-voice hers. And without fail, every time Noel would go through with his plan, there would be a few suits, blasting in their direction, putting Aria in danger every time.

Stuck in a crossroad, Noel tries to think of a way to get to their planned hallway but from an opposite direction.

"We should take the left." Spencer whispers as she approaches Noel, "On the blueprint, it showed a stairwell. We can easily clear out the upper floor and make it to the other hallway on this floor from upstairs."

"No…."Noel debates for a second as he tries to cover his basis, Aria crouching right beside him. "No. We're going to take the right side. If there is anyone in that hall, we can hide away in one of the rooms."

"But you can't see down that hall." Spencer points out as she turns her head, looking down the dark hallway. "We have a better chance of making it upstairs."

" _No_. We are taking the right side."

" _No. We. Are. Not_." Spencer firmly irritates in a low, husked tone. "If we go through that hallway, we limit our visions. We already fucking lost one member because of your incompetent judgement."

"Are you sure you want to rise up to me right now, Hastings?" Noel steps in Spencer's face, only the strain in his eyes and the annoyance in his voice visible. "We're not debating this."

"If you take us through that hallway, we're good as dead." Spencer holds her ground. "Aria and I are going upstairs." Aria immediately heightens her senses the moment she was thrown into the mix, looking back and forth between Noel and Spencer.

Noel humorously cocks his head to the side, "With what defense squad? Because we don't know what the hell is up there but you're so keen in putting everyone right into a trap."

"It's a fucking trap walking in _that_ direction." Spencer voice tries to keep her voice in a low whisper but the rise in her blood is making it difficult, "I know all that alcohol you've consumed didn't kill off all the five brain cells you had left to the point you can't make the right call when needed to." Unable to see everyone's faces, the vibe in the hall changed with the rest of the team looking back and forth in between the two debaters.

Noel narrows his eyes at Spencer for a few seconds before he addressed the rest of the team. "Everyone." He gives the rest of the team a signal, not moving his eyes off Spencer "We're going in. Aria, stay close."

"No, Aria." Spencer demands, "We're going upstairs."

"Are you really trying to one up me on this, Spencer?" Noel challenges the brunette with the rest of the team, including Aria stuck in place. "You're a fucking newbie, trying to kill this whole operation."

"Aria," Spencer ignores Noel as she looks over his shoulder with Aria standing confused. "Let's go."

"No, Aria." Noel turns around and grabs her hand, "We're heading down. Everyone _move_."

Giving Spencer apologetic eyes, the team slowly ventures into the dark hallway, Aria keeping her eyes on Spencer as Noel pulls her into him, leading the group. Spencer lets out an irritable sigh as she wrings the handle of her weapon before she takes the caboose of the group.

 _Another fucking opportunity overruled by Noel's ego and the sisterhood of the traveling idiots._

Halfway down, taking in the hallway in small strides, there is a sudden bright light being shone from behind them, illuminating the whole group.

 _RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!_

" _Shit_!" Noel yells as he grabs Aria's hand, pushing her through one of the doors. The group fights off the other members as they follow suit behind Noel, running through the door and into another dim-lighted hallway. Using a quick decision, one of the other members find an open door and they all run in, making sure nobody is behind them.

" _Fuck_!" Noel exclaims out as he rips his mask off. "Now we're even farther away from the safe house."

"If you would have fucking _listened_ to me when I said-" Aria runs up to Spencer trying to calm her down seeing that she's getting to that breaking point.

"Spencer, come here. Come here." Aria grabs Spencer's arm, pulling her away from the group as Spencer and Noel state exchange eyes of resentment. "Calm down. It's okay." She whispers, rubbing the taller brunette's arm.

"No, it's not ok!" Spencer spits back in a whisper so the others can't hear. "He's being a fucking pompous ass, getting us caught up in all this avoidable shit!"

"Spencer-"

"And you're following him!" Spencer heatedly cuts Aria off, causing Aria's eyes to widen. "You're listening to everything he says like a puppy dog. Like he owns you. We had a perfectly good chance to make it upstairs and you chose him over me. That's all you've been doing lately, choosing him over me."

Aria confusedly stands in front of Spencer speechless. She pulls her mask down as she furrows her eyebrows together. "What are you saying?"

Spencer annoyingly sighs as she closes her eyes, shaking her head at the words that are beginning to spew in the moment of anger. "Aria, I-"

"…And then you have Ms. _I know everything_ trying to go against fucking the grain."

Without second thought, Spencer walks past Aria, pulling down her mask and drawing her gun, pointing it directly at Noel's head. "Say one more thing, you stupid fuck." Immediately having a weapon drawn on him, Noel quickly pulls his gun on Spencer, aiming at her at eye level.

" _WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!_ " Every collected member of the group yells out as Spencer's vision starts tunneling in, locking directly into Noel.

" _Say one more thing._ "

The sound of weapons drawn and feet shuffling echo in Spencer's head as she clenches her teeth behind the choleric expression she has set in. With the sudden adrenaline rush, her pupils dilate as her heart races in side of her chest.

Unfortunately for her, she has failed to realize that her sudden movement caused everyone else to jump into action.

 _Spencer has her gun on Noel._

 _Noel has his gun on Spencer._

 _Max has his gun on Noel._

 _Justin has his gun on Spencer._

 _And Aria…_

 _She has her gun on Justin._

"Put the gun down, Hastings!" Justin yells out, trying to diffuse the escalating situation.

"You know how much it'll hurt getting shot at close distance?" Noel sneers, testing the stone cold brunette. "I suggest you do yourself a favor and put it down."

"FUCK you." Spencer beetled her forehead as her face heated five more degrees.

"Guys…I know everyone wants to play a game of Russian Roulette right now…but we don't have any time." Max informs the tense group as he looks back and forth from them and the door.

With her mind seared with anger, Spencer's brain keeps moving as she notices through the corner of her eye a back door behind her on her left that leads to another possible hallway.

"Put the fucking shit down!" Justin yells out. Immediately after, he feels a hard object pressing against his back.

"I suggest you cool your fucking tone." Aria demands in a cold voice, causing Justin to shut up, unknowing that someone was behind him. "Now, everyone. You all have 5 seconds to draw back your weapons…or else."

"Or else what?" Justin arrogantly asks, getting the gun pressed harder against him.

"This is _so_ not the time to get cocky, Justin Bieber."

With her eyes still locked onto Noel, Spencer reluctantly begins to slowly bring down her gun. With everyone following her lead, Noel also gradually drops his weapon.

"DON'T MOVE!" A loud voice sounds from the entry door as three Black Agents enter the room. With everyone in instant shock at first realization of what's going on, Spencer immediately backs out of Justin's aim, lowers her weapon and shoots Noel twice in the side in one fluid motion.

"ARGH! FUUUCK!" He goes down, clutching his side as if he got shot with an actual bullet.

"Noel!" Aria cries out as Spencer runs and grabs Aria's arm, dragging her through the other door while everyone fends for themselves in a rapid fire shootout.

Panting as Spencer leads the way through the dark hallways and into another room, Aria rips out of Spencer's grasp. "SPENCER, WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Shut up, Aria." Spencer huffed as she hunched over, trying to catch her breath.

" _Shut up_?! What the hell was that?! You just jeopardized everything by shooting one of own!"

"SHUT UP, ARIA!" Spencer lashes out, getting into her face. "SHUT UP! STOP TALKING!" Actually rendered speechless, Aria stares into Spencer's fuming eyes, trying to swallow. "ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS NOEL! WELL GUESS WHAT! I DON'T CARE ABOUT HIM! AND IF YOU WOULD STOP BEATING YOUR EYELASHES FOR HIM, YOU WOULD SEE THAT! EVERYTHING I'M DOING IS FOR YOU." Walking into Aria's personal space, Aria quickly steps backwards until she hits a wall, unable to escape the verbal lashing, "FIGURING DIFFERENT GAME PLANS _, FOR YOU_! JOINING THIS STUPID GROUP, _FOR YOU_! BUYING YOU ALL THOSE GIFTS, _FOR YOU!_ EVERYTHING THAT I'M DOING IS STRICTLY _FOR YOU_!" Spencer shakes her hands in front of Aria as her voice strains, leaving her to become hoarse, "I JUST HAD FUCKING TOY GUN THAT SHOOTS PELLETS AT SUCH A SPEED TO ACTUALLY INJURY ME, AIMED IN MY FACE AND BEHIND MY HEAD. YOU KNOW WHO WOULD HAVE THAT HAPPEN TO THEM? _AN IDIOT!_ AN IDIOT THAT CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT. AN IDIOT THAT RACKS THEIR MIND AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY AND NIGHT, TRYING TO PUSH THOUGHTS AND SCENARIOS OUT OF THEIR HEAD. AN IDIOT THAT HOPELESSLY FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU AND WOULD DO ANYTHING TO PROTECT YOU."

Aria mouth hangs slightly open as her face pinched in realization, her eyes blinking, searching back in forth into Spencer's eyes as she tries to fully understand what Spencer just implied. Spencer sighs out as she steps back, allowing Aria space. Mentally cursing herself for allowing herself to get to such anger and rage, Spencer shakes her head, feeling the stinging of tears starting to form. "I'm done."

"S-S-Spencer, wait." Aria softly calls out, reaching for Spencer's arm but the brunette jerks her body away from her grasp. "Have Noel drive you home. I'm done with this stupid game."

"Spencer, wait! _Please_!"

Ignoring Aria's pleads, Spencer walks out of the room and into the hallway, hearing the small tapping of feet trailing behind her.

" _HANDS UP_!" A voice yells out with a gun pointing at her.

"If you shoot me with that fucking thing, _I swear on your life_ , I will fucking break it." The grim in Spencer's voice immediately told the player that Spencer was done with the game and is no longer involved. She rips off her mask and shoves the gun and accessory into the random guy as she keeps walking, finding her way to the parking lot.

The entire game seemed to be on pause as everyone watches Spencer leave the game, Noel emerges from his captivity as Aria slowly walks towards him, her sees widen as if she had just seen a dead relative.

"Crazy fucking bitch…" Noel groans, rubbing his wounded side as he hunkers over, leaning against the door frame.

Without any warning, Aria's hand smacks down across Noel's face causing all the remaining players to jump back in surprise. She pulls him into her by the front of his hoodie, "If I ever hear you talking to her like that, so help me Noel Khan, you're not going to know pain until I'm done with you." With her hazel eyes burning into his, not waiting to hear his response, Aria pushes him out her face. Looking around at the other members, Aria's eyes catches Max. He gives her an approvingly nod before she yanks off her mask as well and thrusts her things into Noel's chest, running off trying to catch Spencer before she drives off.

 ***Throws myself out of the window* That just happened…That was not a drill. That just happened. Someone call the police.**

 **Call the Paramedics.**

 **Call OBAMA!**

 **THAT JUST HAPPENED.**


	17. Chapter 17: Dark Eyes in the Darkness II

**Ok, ok let me defend myself lmao. I just wanted to comment on the pacing of the story. The reason why it seemed pretty slow in the beginning is because I wanted it to be as realistic as possible. I didn't want it to be two different, random people that met on a bad foot, become friends, moved in together –all within two 1/2 months- and instantly fell in love. I mean, it happens but that's extremely fast. Especially when you don't fully know the person. It's like jumping into something blind. That's why I wanted to put some time behind them, expand their friendship, so it's more like,**

 _ **I know that you hate it when the AC is below 72°F because you despise the cold.**_

 _ **Whenever you start getting mad, you'll ignore it at first but then are prone to blow up at anything.**_

 _ **When you read and get you're really excited, your nose scrunches up and you start becoming restless…**_ **etc**

 **Small things like that you've observed once you've been around someone makes it** _ **so**_ **much more romantic when you actually get together because you** _ **know**_ **them almost like you know yourself. I don't know! That's just me!**

 **But yes, it seems like they've been together for a while but in actuality, the chapters have been covering more on a "daily" basis.**

 **BUT WHATEVER! THAT PORTION OF SPARIA IS GONE!**

 **LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, MY PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLLS!**

CHAPTER #17: Dark Eyes in the Darkness Part II

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

Pushing through the double doors into the dark, cold nightfall, Aria shields her eyes with her unprotected hands from the windy snow blowing into her face. She looks frantically throughout the lot, trying to remember where they parked. Suddenly, a bright red light pierces through the snowstorm as a vehicle proceeds to back out of their parking space. Aria runs into the slush of the concrete as she quickly covers ground to stop Spencer from leaving. Stopping behind the vehicle, Spencer jerks the car as she instantly pressed down on the brakes, barely seeing Aria in her rear-view mirror. Witnessing Aria hopelessly standing behind her car, Spencer hits the steering wheel in frustration. Her whole goal was to make it back to her dorm without Aria and avoid her for as long as she could. After making a huge scene with the other group members and blowing up on her, the last thing she wanted to do was, " _talk about her feelings_ ".

 _But Aria won't let her do that._

With the low volume of the radio playing softly in the background, Spencer turns her face towards her driver's side window, feeling her emotions beginning to overwhelm her as Aria walks over to the passenger side. She goes to open the door but it's locked.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

 _Go away, Aria…_

"Spencer…open the door." A muffled voice comes from the opposite side of the window. With a few deep breaths, Spencer takes a moment to herself before she slowly twists her head to the passenger's window.

Her eye's immediately latch onto Aria's, standing outside with the snow blowing fiercely into her. Frowning with her eyebrows, Aria patiently waits for Spencer to let her in as she starts to shiver from the winter night temperature. Spencer unlocks the car doors and puts her face straightforward, daring not to make any contact with the smaller brunette. Followed immediately after the click of the locks, Aria hops into the vehicle with her eyes glued onto Spencer. Seeing the despondent look Spencer is putting on, Aria goes to say something but can't find the words to start the conversation.

Unaware how exactly _to_ start it.

Not wanting to sit in the parking lot, Spencer raises her body off the seat and turns her head to look behind her, looking through the back window as she pulls out.

Leaving the indoor training facility, silence from both girls fills the car along with the hum of the engine and the sound of the change in song quietly speaking on behalf of both of them.

" _Spare me your judgments and spare me your dreams  
Cause recently mine have been tearing my seams.  
I sit alone in this winter, clarity which clouds my mind…"_

Spencer rests her cheek against the palm of her left hand with her elbow on the door as she slides her right hand to the bottom of the steering wheel, lightly bouncing her left leg with all the anxiety building inside of her. Looking out into the small traffic of vehicles surrounding them, Spencer can feel Aria's eyes still on her. With so much intensity sitting between them, Spencer can almost hear thoughts that weren't hers, as if she can hear Aria mentally trying to communicate with her.

 _Spencer…._

 _Talk to me…._

 _Please…._

 _Look at me._

 _Acknowledge me._

 _Don't leave me in the dark._

A veil drew across her eyes as Spencer rubbed her mouth with her fingers, trying to distract herself.

" _Corrupted by the simple sniff of riches blown.  
I know you have felt much more love than you've shown.  
And I'm on my knees and the water creeps to my chest…"_

Stopping at a red light, Spencer turns her head out her window once again, staring at a bus stop holding a handful of people, trying to keep themselves warm from the brisk night. She tapped her lips with her fingertips as she imagines herself in their shoes, waiting for something to come and recuse them.

"Spencer…." Aria softly whimpers as she lets the brunette's name escape her lips. Not moving an inch, Spencer blinks away the realization that she won't be rescued. That she'll have to deal with the darkness head on and be prepared for anything that happens. Seeing the green light of the stop light reflect off other people's cars, Spencer changes her focus back to in front of her and slowly presses down on the gas, continuing their journey to their dorm.

A twenty minute drive.

With a ten minute walk from the parking lot to their College House.

She has no choice but to face the darkness head on.

…

Unlocking their dorm door, Spencer leaves the door open as she hangs her keys on the hanger. With Aria behind her, Spencer keeps moving towards her room, refusing to say anything.

"Spencer, stop." A strong voice comes out of Aria as she closes the door behind them. Spencer stops in place as she looks down the hallway in front of her. "You've been quiet for nearly half an hour. Now…" Aria slowly walks behind the still brunette, "You're going to talk to me." There is a moment of silence as Aria gives Spencer time to say something. After five long seconds, Aria grabs Spencer by her shoulder and forcibly turns her around, "Spencer, talk to m-"

Aria's pleads are cut off when she sees Spencer face, tears streaming as her eyes sagged down with fatigue.

Spencer draws in a long breath and lets it hiss out slowly as she looks away, "I….I can't, Aria." Aria eyes drift down Spencer's appearance as the look of surprise resonates on her face. She takes Spencer's hand and leads her to the couch, Spencer dragging herself behind Aria's lead as they both sit down on the sofa.

"Why can't we talk about this?"

"Because," Spencer heaves a sigh, "It's _pointless_. I created this…fantasy in my head that's been giving me nothing but problems." Spencer red eyes float up to Aria's, filled with tears waiting to roll down, "Can we just forget anything of this ever happened?"

Aria's face took on a measured look as Spencer pleads to her. A sight she's never seen before and doesn't like seeing, "….When did your feelings start for me?"

"Aria, pleas-"

"Tell me."

Spencer's face crumpled into a rueful grimace as she hangs her head, her eyes looking over her fingers. "I've always taken a liking to you, Aria. I mean…I would throw it out there with the things I would say to you."

" **When I first met you…" Spencer begins with a slight slur in the kitchen as Aria climbs to the top of the couch and sits on it, trying to make sure she doesn't fall backwards, "You were so** _ **fucking**_ **annoying. Like…Whenever I would see you, I would wanna ram myself into a…fucking…wall."**

 **Aria laughs as she remembers back on their first few runs in together, "Good job, Aria!" She congratulated herself with a pat on the back.**

 **"But** _ **now**_ **…now-now I like you." She sashays over to Aria with low eyes, "I like the spawn of Satan who wasn't even Satan at all."**

x

 **"Getting to know you and having you in my life as a friend has definitely been a highlight of my college experience. At first you were a major pain to me but now you are this…" Spencer smiles as she looks down, trying to find the words, "funny, compassionate, intelligent person that I couldn't better ask for. Even though we have our ups and downs sometimes, I'm grateful that I know you and you're in my life. Hopefully we can continue this friendship for years and years to come." Spencer pulls the green and white Barnes & Noble bag from behind her back, "Happy Valentine's day, Agnes."**

"But everything changed that night when you went out to study for your mythology exam."

 **The night before the exam, Spencer came home to her dorm late with Aria vacant.** _ **She probably went to go study with someone.**_ **Spencer thought as she had the whole place to herself. Not wanting to mess up Aria's study session, Spencer doesn't call or text her roommate and chooses to talk to her whenever she gets back.**

"I was so nervous that something had happened to you when I couldn't reach you and it was nearing midnight."

 **Hours passing by without a word from anyone, Spencer looks at the time on her phone** _ **11:15pm. If she wants to do well on this test, she can't stay out late to cram.**_ **Spencer dial's Aria's number and counts the rings just to get a voicemail. Normally, Spencer wouldn't think too much of a missed call but the air felt different this night. She gets up from her bed and puts on her shoes in hopes to see Aria somewhere in the building.**

 **Calling every so often as she goes up and down each floor, Spencer wanders the long halls of the College House. After tens of minutes upon minutes of an unsuccessful venture, Spencer decides to go by the front desk to see if anyone has seen her leave, maybe to set her sights somewhere else. She knows Aria isn't at the library because of the hour so she hopes that she's close by.**

"But when I actually did find you and brought you to your room..."

 **"Are you okay?" Spencer concernedly asks as she extends her hand to pick up Aria.**

 **Instead of using her hand for leverage, Aria hangs her head. "I can't…there are twelve Olympian Gods and I only named eight." She softly whines to herself.**

 **"Okay…C'mon Agnes," Spencer crouches down besides the smaller brunette. Putting her arm underneath her legs and a hand supporting her back, Spencer raises to her feet cradling Aria in her arms with her Aria's arms around her neck like a little child.**

"Something in me just… _clicked_."

 **Using the hand to support Aria's back, Spencer uses her free hand to dig into her jacket to get her keys to unlock the door, "Did you learn that today?"**

 **"Yeah..." Aria nuzzles her face into Spencer's neck.**

 **Pushing the door open and closing it with her foot, Spencer keeps walking straight towards Aria's room. Twisting the door handle to the room, Spencer puts her bag on the floor besides her bed before she takes Aria's cover and pulls it back. With everything in position, Spencer slowly lowers Aria into her bed but Aria groans as she climbs further up Spencer's neck in resistance. "** _ **Nonono**_ **, Aria." Spencer lightly whispers, "Come on, you need to go to sleep."**

 **"I don't wanna….sleep…"**

 **Spencer lowers Aria again, placing her gently into her bed with Aria relinquishing. Finally in her bed, Spencer takes the sheets and covers Aria, making sure she's inside snug.**

 **"Goodnight, Agnes." Spencer softly calls out but Aria already fell sound asleep. Instead of turning around and leaving the room, Spencer stands there, looking over Aria as she sleeps. Not only observing her, she stands there and recollects everything that has transpired between the two ever since they met up until this very moment.**

"Everything from that moment on…I didn't look at you the same way. I-I _couldn't_."

"…So what you did today…?" Aria carefully worded herself, "With Noel…"

" _Yes_." Spencer cries out as she covers her face with her hands, rubbing her eyes "I'm such an _idiot_ because I let my emotions take the best of me. In front of a fucking crowd no less. I'm pathetic…and…and that's why I just want to forget about this. Forget about this whole thing."

"I'm...I'm so sorry, Spencer. I-I didn't know...I'm sorry I let you feel this way..." Aria watches over Spencer's slumped over and defeated posture as she wipes her tears with her backhand. The sound of Spencer's sniffling fills the room and Aria looks down as well, trying to find the right words to comfort her.

"...The day when we had our second class with Dr. Hasleberger and I volunteered to stand at the front of the class..."

" **Now, with this exercise I need a person. Someone who is able to stand in front of the class for a perception viewing."**

 **The large size class of about 60 people look around to see who's going to be the bold one to volunteer first. Aria looks around to see if anyone is going to take the bait and after a few seconds, she raises her hand. "I'll be your muse, Dr. Hasleberger." Aria volunteers as she gets up from her chair and walk to the front of the class.**

 **"Perfect." He places his hands gently on Aria's shoulders and moves her directly in the middle of the class, facing everyone. "Now, upon seeing Ms. Montgomery in front of you today, what are the first things you notice about her?" Different students mention things while viewing Aria like a centerpiece.**

 **"Her eyes."**

 **"Her height."**

 **"Her clothing."**

 **"Her smile."**

 **"Her long hair."**

 **Aria glances at every classmate as they quietly yell out the components of herself. She then looks over to Spencer who has said nothing. She keeps her gaze on her until Spencer finally speaks up.**

 **"I notice her small stature." Aria smiles to herself as she shakes her head.** _ **Great pick, Spencer.**_

 **"Now since you have noted the first things you notice about her, what does her appearance tell you?"**

 **The first few moments, the class becomes silent. Nobody wanting to say anything or not knowing what to say. Aria begins to become anxious, standing in front of a quiet classroom while all eyes are peering at her.**

 **"Her eyes. They're like big buttons. She has these round hazel eyes that tells me that she's very spontaneous, fun and always up for an adventure at point of time. Mischievous and sensual in equal measure, however, judging how she took the jump of being up there for the class to critique, I'm most likely right."**

 **The class all turns to look at the person who busted out a synopsis first, Aria giving an appreciative yet surprised grin.**

 **"Very good, observation, Ms. Hastings." Dr. Hasleberger wags his finger at her, approvingly agrees, "I would like to point out something to follow up. Many artists rely on their characters eyes to help show their personality; big, small, narrow, slanted, uneven. All those eye shapes mean something, it shows something to add to. So you noting that, Ms. Hastings, is a perfect example of how eyes play a role on our personality. Great job."**

 **Spencer nods a thank you as Aria's smile lingers on her face as she walks back to her seat.**

"That's when I knew..." Aria looks up, "That's when I knew I was going to fall in love with you."

Spencer's eyes widen as she raises her head, meeting Aria's gaze casted upon her. " _W_ - _what_...?" Her voice quivers in a whisper, unbelieving her ears, making sure she didn't fabricate yet another scenario.

"I couldn't help it." Aria sucks in her lower lip, looking directly into Spencer's eyes, "I read books all day. I'm raging, hopeless romantic. What you did by speaking up when nobody else did...It was like it came out of a page from a romance novel." Aria lets out a small laugh as Spencer holds her contact still in shock. "Since then, I knew I wanted to be around you more."

 **"You really surprised me, Spencer." Aria says as she sits in Spencer computer chair, swiveling around with her feet.**

 **"Surprised you how?" Spencer asks with her eyes narrowed at her computer screen, sitting crossed leg on her bed.**

 **"How** _ **poetic**_ **you are." Aria gushes with her hands over her heart. "Her eyes, they're like big buttons." The smaller brunette recites as she spins around in the chair.**

 **"Well, they are." Spencer nonchalantly responds, not thinking anything of it.**

 **Aria stops spinning in her chair and gazes at Spencer, just smiling at how ridiculously indifferent she can be. Making everything seem so casual.**

 **"I'm thinking of pizza tonight," Spencer says aloud, still glued to her computer screen, oblivious to Aria looking at her. "Papa Johns or Dominoes?"**

 **"Move in with me."**

"I-I tried to hide it by being over friendly so you could brush it off as me being one of those giggly, annoying, hyper friends."

 **"Spencer!" Aria yells out her name to get her undivided attention. Spencer looks up at her perplexed as to why she's calling out her name.**

 **"Move** _ **in**_ **with meeee." Aria drags out, scooting the computer chair to the end of Spencer's bed.**

 **Spencer confusedly lets out a laugh with her eyebrows furrowed. "Move in with you? Why?"**

 **"Because!" Aria whines as she leans her body over the foot of Spencer's bed, face down. "It's not as fun and serene as you say it is.** _ **Yes**_ **, you have this big living space to yourself but I don't want to be by myself. I don't want to be alone."**

"…And you fell for it." Aria gives a flat smile but her drifting eyes showed more disappointment than happiness.

 **"Please." Aria asks in a more serious tone. She lowers down her head, widens her eyes and pouts her lips like a sad child getting ready to cry. "Pleeeeeeease?"**

 **"** _ **Fine**_ **, Agnes! I'll move in with you." Spencer huffs defeatedly. Aria's face of sadness turns into overwhelming joy as she hands Spencer her laptop. With such happiness, Aria jumps up and down on Spencer bed, clapping.**

 **"Now what kind of toppings do you want? Do you want the one topping or two?" Spencer asks as she opens up her laptop on the Papa John's menu page.**

 **"I don't care! We're gonna be roomies!"**

"But...everything I did from that moment on was all out of impulse. Unable to stop myself before my brain thinks things through."

 **"I** _ **know**_ **but Mike used to play it all the time and sometimes I would watch." Aria shrugs. "But think of it this way. It's just like playing cops and robbers how we did when we were kids except we're adults running around having fun!" Aria reaches for Spencer's arm and massages it, "C'mon Spencer. At least try it out for me?" She pouts, "If you don't like it, we'll drop it. I promise."**

x

 **Also eyeing her outfit, Aria pulls Spencer into the bathroom.**

 **"You want to put your hair up. It'll be too much of a hassle to run around with your hair in your face." Aria grabs an extra hair-tie and pulls Spencer's back to her. On her tippy-toes, she tries to do Spencer's ponytail for her but is having a bit of trouble because of the height difference.**

 **Noticing Aria's little dilemma, Spencer turns around, "It's okay, Agnes. I got it."**

 **"** _ **Nooooo**_ **!" Aria spins Spencer back around. "It got this." She pulls Spencer farther back as she hops on top of the closed toilet, using it as a stepping stool to fasten Spencer's high ponytail. "There." She pats Spencer on the top of the head. "My work here is done."**

x

 **"Me?! You were the one out there looking like a female Scarface." Spencer purposely bumps into Aria, "Now, I'm afraid to do anything to you because you'll whip out a gun from your bra and shoot me."**

 **Aria gives a good, kindheartedly laugh as she leans into Spencer, holding onto her arm.**

 **"You're laughing because you know it's true!"**

 **As her laughter dies down and they see their College house in the distance, Aria recalls something. "Did you notice when we were in that shootout and we had to cover Max he called us Sparia?"**

 **Spencer raises an eyebrow trying to remember Max saying such a thing. "Really?"**

 **"Yeah, he was like, "** _ **Sparia! I'm going in! Cover me!"**_ **What is that? A combination of Spencer and Aria?"**

 **"Sounds like it." Spencer shrugs, "Sparia...It has a nice ring to it. I like it."**

 **"I do too…" Aria rests her head on Spencer's arm, looking up at the night sky, "...Sparia."**

x

 **Finishing her note card for the art exam, Aria glances over at Spencer as she sleeps soundly in her book. Tapping her pen on her jaw, Aria reaches over and grabs a large yellow sticky note. As she writes on the tab, she smiles to herself.** _ **Something harmless.**_

 **Finishing her portion of her study, closes her book and rises out of her chair. Deciding which aisle to attack first, Aria walks past Spencer, ever so gently placing the sticky note on her forehead as she nonchalantly passes her.**

 **"** _ **DO NOT TOUCH THE MASTERPEICE**_ **."**

"The sticky note…tha-that was you...?" Spencer gasps with not only all the information that's being dumped on her but finally finding out who tagged her after days of trying to find out who did.

"Yep." Aria slowly nods acknowledging her little tactic she blamed on someone else. "Just like you said..."

 **Aria shrugs as she turns the page of the book in her hands, "Whoever did must think you're a fine piece of art. You know what you said about masterpieces…** _ **When you walk into an art gallery and it's the one that shouts quality from across the room. It doesn't work with reproductions.**_ **"**

 **Spencer goes to say something but stops herself mid-way, "Wait…how did you remember that verbatim? I don't even remember what I said."**

 **"I just** _ **really**_ **pay attention, I guess."**

Aria brought her head down with a shy smile, "I only pay good attention to something when I'm interested in it."

"A-and the gifts?" Spencer asks in her hoarse voice feeling dazed.

"Something nice I wanted to do. Had _no_ idea you would do the same thing." Aria curses herself under her breath. "I'm so stupid for not putting two and two together…"

 **Aria's mouth drops with her hand instantly covering it. She looks up at Spencer with flabbergasted eyes as she slowly walks over to her in pure joy. "Spencer…you….you didn't." Aria eyes the fresh, brand new books Spencer brought for her.**

 **"These books are the must read of the year. Figured that you'd want some more books to add to your little library in that room of yours." Spencer leads Aria to the couch as Aria is still shocked over the surprise gifting.**

 **"Spencer I…." Aria shakes her head as her eyes float from the books and into Spencer's eyes, "I don't even know what to say. This-this is amazing. Thank you!" Aria wraps her arms around Spencer's neck and pulls her into a tight embrace. Spencer laughs as she rubs her back, "Don't even worry about it. Thought it would be something nice to give."**

"But then, at that moment...something happened."

 **Spencer cocks her head to the side as she continues to gaze at Aria who is ever so bubbly in front of her. Aria leans to the side against the couch cushion as she smiles back at Spencer, causing the two sit in silence for a moment. "Thank you, again." Spencer extends her arms and brings Aria into another hug. As Aria squeezes herself into Spencer, everything around her changed.**

 **As if the air in the room became extremely still.**

 **Everything went in slow motion. All the instances that have been building up in her has finally came to this very moment.**

 **She felt the impulses.**

 **She felt what her body wanted to do.**

 **And when she slowly pulled herself away, she felt what she was about to do.**

Spencer straightens up as her mouth hangs open, looking deep into Aria's eyes. "It was real..." she whispers to herself, unable for Aria fully catch on.

"Then I had to quickly push all that out." Aria continues, "Anything I thought or felt, cue over friendly Aria to the rescue."

 **Aria pulls away from the hug and notices Spencer slight fidget. "Are you ok?" Aria looks down, pointing to Spencer's arms, "You have goosebumps."**

 **"Oh, uhm…"Spencer unconsciously takes her left hand and rubs her arm as she forces out a laugh, looking down at her gifts in her lap, "I just felt a cold breeze, that's all." She hesitates to look up at Aria's eyes knowing what she just imagined, "Thank you for the gifts…** _ **really**_ **. I-I love it."**

 **"Anything for you, Spence!" Aria rubs Spencer's thigh before she jumps off the couch, "Now go put on those clothes, I want to see what you look like in them. I had to guess your size so what I want to see if they fit."**

"Everything was giggly Aria. To distract you...and myself."

 **"Hey." Aria knocks on Spencer's door as she slowly opens.**

 **More tense than usual, Spencer subtly jumps at Aria's sudden appearance, "Uhm-hi-hey! Hey." Spencer glances between Aria and her computer, "W-what's...what's up?"**

 **"Good!" Spencer scoots over to the side as Aria jumps into the open space like a small child. "I think I'm going to start off this book first." Aria shows her the** _ **"Everything I Never Told You"**_ **cover causing Spencer to put on a forced smile and nod. "I'm a sucker for lies, scandal and secrets...when it doesn't involve me of course." Aria giggles as she gets herself comfortable on her stomach, laying side by side next to Spencer.**

"But you're so...beautiful...caring...and overly amazing that...I would find myself stuck. Just gazing at you as if you were a million dollar art display that nobody could touch."

 **Already looking at her, Aria's heart skips a few beat as she makes eye contact with Spencer who just so happened to turn her head with her eyes leaving her notebook. As Spencer gave a small smile, Aria looked down as if she was caught looking at something she wasn't supposed to, blushed then smiled with her eyes brightened as her cheeks raised, causing her eyes to wrinkle in the corners with happiness.**

"But then that little demon called doubt plagued me." Aria shakes her head with a sigh, "It's always been in the back of my head that you didn't feel the same way about me but it was my stubbornness that would ignore it. But that day, all throughout my classes, my brain was telling me that I needed to stop."

 **Aria sits in her English lecture class paying absolutely no mind to the professor in the front. Instead of understanding the different writing styles authors used in previous years, all Aria could think about is Spencer.**

 _ **This is ridiculous, Aria. You're creating all these fantasies in your mind for what? Spencer would never see you in that light.**_

 _ **She's never showed interest in you. For the most part she tolerates you but never will like you.**_

 _ **You're making up everything in your head and you're just running with it.**_

 _ **Besides!**_

 _ **Can we just sit on the fact that you're not gay?**_

 _ **You know you don't like girls so why is this one any different?**_

 _ **You're not into her. You just like the attention, the affection of the friendship.**_

 _ **I guarantee you the moment you find interest in an actual guy, you'll be able to brush off these Spencer nonsense.**_

"And that's when I found Noel and thought..."perfect distraction". Maybe all I like about you was the attentiveness you've given me. So I thought, If get that from someone else, the thoughts of you would go away."

 **"Hey, Spence!" Aria smiles as she turns around and locks the door behind her.**

 **"Yeah. Hey, Spencer." Noel waves at the somewhat confused Spencer standing in the hallway.**

 **"Hi…" Spencer squints her eyes with a slight hanging mouth as she watches Noel pull up a seat at their kitchen bar. "Aria. Can I talk to you for a second?" Spencer waves Aria into her room.**

 **"Be right back." Aria places her hand on Noel's shoulder. "Make yourself at home." She leaves his side and walks towards Spencer as she begins to unbutton her coat. "Yeah?"**

 **"I thought we had a system..." Spencer whispers as she crosses her arms. "No inviting people over without letting the other person know?"**

 **Aria turns her head to the side with a confused smirk on her face, "I texted you earlier, telling you I was going to invite Noel."**

 **"...You did?" Spencer checks her phone in her pocket and indeed, Aria sent her a text about an hour ago.**

"And then you brought him over and had sex with him." Spencer scoffs as she takes her eyes off Aria and focuses into the kitchen, shaking her head as another tear rolled down her cheek. Not so much a sad tear but an angry tear. A disgusted tear.

"Well..."

 **Talking to each other for about half and hour about nothing significant, jumping from small topic to topic, Aria sits at her desk chair as Noel sits up straight on her bed.**

" **So you're building yourself your own library in here?" Noel asks as he observes Aria's half-filled small, black bookcase on the opposite wall of him.**

" **Trying" Aria gives a smile as she looks back at her collection, "Some people like to collect baseball cards. I like to collect books."**

" **A-ha." Noel notes as he gets up, walking towards the bookshelf. He skims his finger against the spine of the aligned books, grabbing a random novel. "** _ **The Death of Jayson Porter**_ **by Jamie Adoff" He reads the title as he scans the cover of the book. He turns to face Aria, lifting the book in the air. "What's this story about?"**

" **Oh, uhm…that was a book I got during the early years of high school." Aria explains as Noel slowly saunters towards her, handing over the book to her. "When a book begins with the suicide of its 16-year-old protagonist, you know it's going to be powerful. And it is. Jayson Porter lives in the projects with his alcoholic divorced mom, who physically abuses him. As a teen, Jayson could easily fight back, but he's unwilling to strike his own mother. Jayson's Dad is completely uninvolved in his life because he's addicted to drugs and living in one of the most dangerous housing projects. Jayson has no family member to turn to or to count on. Day by day, Jayson struggles with his situation and over time uncovers a dark family secret that could change his life forever. But first, he must decide if his life is worth living." Aria flips through the pages as she describes the book to the best of her memories. "Good memories I had reading this story.**

" **How about…" Noel leans down and moves Aria's hair away from her neck as he plants a soft kiss on her neck. "We make another good memory?" Aria flinches at the sudden change of things but allows Noel to continue as she slowly puts the book down on the desk in front of her. Trailing kisses up and down her neck, Aria turns to face him, Noel pulling her into him as he grazes his tongue against her bottom lip.**

"From that moment I realized that I do need intimacy from someone…"

 **Leading her out of the chair and down with him in her bed, Noel runs his hand in Aria's hair, gripping it at the roots as his lips presses against Aria's. Hovering on top of him, Aria holds herself up above Noel as she presses her hands on either side of him into the mattress. As the two started themselves into a passionate kiss, Noel runs his free hand down Aria's back and rests it on her ass. Squeezing it as he pulls her down for her mid-section to brush against his hardening bulge felt through his jeans,**

"But not from Noel."

 **As Aria begins to feels uncomfortable by the straight-forwardness of Noel, she pushes herself off of him. However, not using his head at the moment, Noel took it as a change of control and rolls himself on top of her. Kissing her jaw to her neck, dragging his lips downwards, Noel rubs Aria's side for a brief moment before he slides his hands up her shirt. Aria winces at his cold hand as she tries to ignore her displeasing thoughts.**

" **You feel so good, baby." Noel nibbles on Aria's collarbone as he drops the tone in his voice. Aria's face turns from semi attracted to completely put off as Noel's rough hands glides towards Aria's button on her pants.**

"That entire time, I was thinking about you in the other room. Thinking about how I didn't want this with him. Instead….how I wanted it from you.."

" **Noel, wait…" Aria whispers as she tries to stop Noel's hand from reaching any farther.**

" **What's wrong?" He rises his head up to meet Aria's.**

 **Aria shakes her head as her eyebrows furrowed, "I….I can't do this."**

" **Why? W-what's the matter?"**

" **I'm just not comfortable. I-I don't want to do this."**

 **Noel looks at Aria with soft eyes as he nods, understanding that Aria isn't ready. He realizes that right now isn't the time and that he's just going to have to wait.**

"Everything you saw between Noel and I was me being uncomfortable and him trying too hard."

 **Aria walks behind Noel towards the door before he turns around and murmurs something to her, too low for Spencer to make out.**

" **So, I'll see you tomorrow after your classes?" Noel quietly whispers.**

 **"Yeah, sure…." Aria politely agrees as she avoids looking him in the eyes.**

 **"Alright, I'll text you later then."**

 **"Ok."**

 **Noel assuringly rubs Aria's arm with a small smile before he leaves the dorm.**

 **Dragging her feet all the way to the couch, Aria huffs aloud as she plops herself down next to Spencer.**

 **"Tired?"**

 **Aria stretches her arms behind her as she arches her back off the couch, "Kinda." She looks at Spencer, "You've been out here the whole time?"**

 **"Not really. Just been back and forth." Spencer replies, "….You guys were in there for a minute."**

 **Aria pouts as she cocks her head to the side, "Really? I didn't really notice…"**

 **"Mhmm." Spencer looks down at her phone, "What were you guys doing in there?"**

 **"Nothing, honestly." Aria rocks her body back and forth before she pushes herself off the couch. Aria fleeing the scene and walking to the kitchen, away from Spencer's peering questions,**

 **"Really? So you guys weren't reviewing your monthly story for your book club? And here I thought the shocking assumption that Noel could actually read."**

 **Aria gives a nervously laugh as she opens the fridge, "Your humor never ceases to fail me, Spence."**

"I told myself that I was going to tell you _everything_. But then you pushed me away, sending me into despair of wondering if I did anything to bother you."

 **"I'm just going to rest. That's all I need." Spencer treks towards her room with Aria following behind her.**

 **"Okay….Well do you mind if I join you for another reading session? I'm getting to a pretty juicy part of my story and kinda need my reading buddy by my side."**

 **Spencer opens her room door and turns around, standing in the entrance way, "Not today. I really rather be by myself."**

 **"Oh…" Aria disappointedly replies with a touch of drawback in her voice. "Well-well yeah." She tries to recover with a forced smile, "You just came out of tryouts. You wouldn't want to be bothered by my emotional rantings."**

 **"Yeah, not really."**

 **Now visibly taken back, Aria quickly drops eye contact with Spencer as she nods her head, looking in another direction. "Okay. Well I hope you feel better." Without giving Spencer the time to respond, Aria walks away back into the direction of the kitchen.**

 **Standing the middle of the kitchen dumbfounded, Aria is frozen in spot not knowing how to react or what to do. Trying to justify in her head that it was the tiredness talking, that Spencer didn't really mean that.**

 _ **How she said it.**_

 _ **She didn't mean it.**_

 _ **She didn't mean it.**_

 _ **She's just irritated because of her arm.**_

 _ **She…didn't….she didn't mean it?**_

 _ **Did she?**_

 **Having not seeing Spencer since she shooed her away, Aria turns off the lights in the quiet dorm and walks into her room, looking at Spencer's door one last time because she closes hers.**

 **Grabbing her book, Aria opens where she last left off. However, as she reads, her eyes scan over the lines but her brain doesn't comprehend because all she can think about was how cold Spencer has been towards her. And noticing the time, this is the longest she's gone without seeing Spencer while they both were in the house.**

 _ **Did I do something wrong?**_

 _ **Did-did I say something to her?**_

 **Hours later after the initial incident, Aria still cannot piece together what happened to make Spencer act the way she has been acting.**

"Then you came back with Wren and seemed to really enjoy his company so I left you guys alone."

 **Hesitating to get out of her bed, Aria waits for a moment so she wouldn't seem too desperate to see who Spencer brought home. Though, the instant she heard the sound of the other person's voice, Aria jumped out of her comfortable laying position and headed toward her door and into the living where the little get together was occurring.**

 **Seeing Spencer's guest, initially caused her to slow down and wonder…** _ **Who is this?**_

 **"This is my roommate, Aria." Spencer points to the smaller brunette who is standing in the middle of the hallway, forgetting that she wasn't discreet and could be easily seen.**

 **"Hello, Aria." They guest waves at Spencer's roommate.**

 **"Hi…." Aria gradually greets Spencer's company as she begins to walk again, this time away from the two in the living room and into the kitchen.**

 **"And Aria this is Wren." Spencer smiles as she looks in-between the two people she stands in the middle of.**

 **Taking a good look at the guy leaning against their couch, Aria squints her eyes as she tries to recall a memory, "I think I've seen you somewhere before…."**

 **"Ah, yes." Wren crosses his ankles as he gets comfortable, "I work as a receptionist at the front desk downstairs. Just a small job I take on. You know, just for the chump change."**

 **Aria nods still with iffy eyes, "So do you go to school here or….?"**

 **"Yes. Enrolled right in the Perelman School of Medicine."**

 **"How long have you been in here?"**

 **"Well I have already graduated. I'm now just doing my years as a med student before I go onto my residency."**

 **"Then why are you hanging around undergrads like us?" Aria laughs a laugh that's more on the skeptical laugh than a genuine laugh.**

 **Spencer cuts off Wren before he has the chance to answer, "Alright, Akinator. Let's try not to play a full game of 21 questions the moment someone walks through the door." She responds in a diffusing tone.**

 **"I'm sorry." Aria lifts up her hands with yet another forced smile, "Just a curious person, here."**

 **As Spencer and her new apparent friend chop it up in the living room, feeling like the awkward third wheel, Aria grabs a water bottle and walks back to her room, without Spencer noticing.**

"That's when all my doubts came to life and I knew that the thought of us was... _outlandish_." Aria huffs out, "So I called Noel...again." She painfully regrets her words. "Stupidly thinking that maybe 2nd times a charm."

 **"Hey," Aria greets Noel as he bends down to give her a hug. Seeing the two embrace, Spencer turns back to face Wren.**

 **Aria changes her sights to Spencer and Wren on the couch as Noel enters the dorm, "Okay, so Noel, this is Wren. Wren, this is Noel." She introduces as she closes the door behind the new guest.**

 **"Noel…? As in Noel Khan?" Wren squints his eyes as he watches Noel slowly approaching the couch.**

 **"Wren! My man!" Noel beams as Wren stands to his feet, exchanging a handshake followed by a bro hug.**

 **"Long time no see!" Wren responds back with a laugh.**

 **Aria and Spencer exchange surprised yet confused glances as they witness what seems to be two buddies reuniting. "You guys know each other…?" Aria mouth hangs in an awkward smile as the two guys separate.**

"But with Noel being... _Noel_ , I just couldn't keep my eyes off you." Aria smiled to herself as she feels the heat rushing to her cheeks.

 **"Ah, don't worry about it." Noel whispers back as he looks down at Aria's puppy eyes. "I'll even bring you some drinks so you can save for the fridge, alright?" Aria accepts the offer with a silent nod before Noel pulls her in with one arm, placing a kiss on her cheek.**

 **"I'll be right back." Noel calls out once more as he exits the door, leaving everyone idling to themselves. Aria's eyes drift to Spencer right as Spencer looks elsewhere, pretending she didn't see what she saw. Aria slowly strides herself to the single couch chair Noel once sat with her eyes dragging the floor.**

x

 **"Yes!" Aria leans forward. "That-that'll be amazingly perfect." Wren smiles approvingly with Aria's excitement radiating through her. She peeks over at Spencer, catching her in a full, head tilted to the side, staring moment. Not exactly knowing what that expression meant, Aria's smile slowly fades as she looks down to the floor.**

x

 **Picking up on Spencer's comment, Wren adds in his two cents. "You two** _ **do**_ **look like a couple. The hugging, whispering in the back, the quick pecks. Even the way you guys are** _ **sitting**_ **is looking more dating then** _ **prospecting**_ **, my friend."**

 **"I mean, when the time comes and is right, we'll put a label on it." Noel defends the sudden accusations as Aria tries to avoid the eye contact Spencer has been making with her.**

x

 **As Noel goes in to hug Aria, Aria's eyes subtly find their ways to Spencer as Noel kisses her on the forehead, watching Spencer and Wren embrace in a warm hug.**

"But throughout that whole time, I couldn't shake the feeling that you didn't want me there.

 **With both guys leaving, Aria and Spencer are alone in their dorm once again.**

 **But there is a weird vibe in the air.**

 **As if this was their first time being alone together.**

 **"Well…..that was interesting." Aria tries to start a conversation to stop the thickening air from choking her.**

 **"Yeah….it was." Spencer slowly responds as she places the glasses in the sink.**

 **"So, do you like him?" Aria leans against the bar, watching Spencer with inquisitive eyes. "Wren, I mean. He seems like a really cool guy."**

 **"I mean….he's appealing."**

 **"He's not bad looking at all. Pretty charming with the accent." Aria smiles.**

 **"You find him attractive just because he has a shop-till-you drop book collection." Spencer mocks in a confusing tone that has Aria guessing if she's serious or playing around.**

 **"What can I say," Aria takes a gamble for the teasing part, "I'm a sucker for books."**

 **Having a hard time trying to come up with something to say, Spencer just nods her head as she puts the glasses in their set places.**

 **Taking the silence uncomfortably, Aria clears her throat, "So you know we have our first real competition tomorrow with the Blitz Society? Noel told me earlier today. You were gone all day so I didn't have the chance to tell you…"**

 **"Really, tomorrow?" Spencer huffs out as she crosses her arms, seeming to pretending to be interested.**

 **"Yeah. We'll be playing as official members." Aria smiles again. "As Sparia again."**

 **The random name dropping made Spencer look up at Aria's big, accepting hazel eyes. With a brief second of gazing, Spencer looks down as she proceeds to walk out of the kitchen.**

 **"Well, I guess it's time to get some rest." Spencer walks around, the bar, "I'll see you tomorrow."**

 **"Okay." Aria agrees as she watches Spencer walk past her and walk into her room, closing the door behind her. "Okay…" She whispers to herself in the emptiness of the open space.**

"But, I'm sorry…" Aria apologizes again with complete sorrow in her tone, "I'm sorry that I made you feel like you were alone. I…I didn't know."

Spencer hangs her head as the overflow of tears leave her again. She doesn't believe what just happened. After everything that she's been through, the fights she's had within herself, losing concentration in her studies, this entire time Aria felts the exact same way about her. Even more because she's had it bad longer than she had. Aria takes her hands and cups Spencer's face, allowing her tears to run down her hands. She takes her thumb and wipes the bottom of Spencer's eyes, not saying a word but letting the moment transpire between them.

Gasping to catch her breath, Spencer grabs Aria's wrists, holding on to her. "I...I-I"

" _Shhh_..." Aria quiets Spencer's attempt to talk with a calming, soothing voice, "You don't have to say anything." She coos. As Spencer tries to get herself together, Aria's eyes drift down to Spencer's lips. She clenches her jaw as she tries to rid herself of any thoughts she has.

 _The timing is inappropriate. I'm not going to do it. I can't…_

She knows this isn't the best time

But at this moment...

She doesn't care.

Aria gently pulls Spencer's face into hers as the two presses their lips together for the first time. Frozen in place by the sudden impulse of the smaller brunette, Spencer sheepishly pulls back from the kiss. Feeling a sense of Deja vu, Spencer looks at Aria with stunned eyes, as she still clings onto Aria's wrists.

"I'm so sorry." Aria leans back, immediately feeling regret seeing Spencer's face, "I shouldn't have d-"

" _No_..." Spencer cuts her off with a shaky whisper. "Don't apologize."

"...Do you want me to stop?" Aria searches into Spencer's puffy red eyes, waiting for some kind of response, hoping she doesn't reject her.

Spencer sucks in her bottom lip, slowly shaking her head, her eyes twinkling with the built up desire that's been eating her alive. Aria gives a small smile as she leans her face into Spencer's. Hovering their mouths next to each other's without an actual move being made, Aria waits for Spencer to make the first move this time.

Unable to take the anticipation, Spencer slides her hand from Aria's wrists and onto her face as she pulls Aria into her. Starting off, they peck each other with closed mouth kisses, feeling the heat rise within each other's faces. Feeling a bit bolder because of the reality of the moment, Aria slips her tongue in to Spencer's mouth, hesitantly wanting to see the reaction she would get from the other brunette. Spencer returns her action fervently, wanting her so badly that the ache in the pit of her stomach makes her body jerk forward against Aria's body. Within seconds, the kisses become less shy and more thorough and passionate. Getting the physically hotter by the moment, Spencer pulls out of the kiss to remove her hoodie, Aria instantly following her lead by taking off hers. Tossing their top to the side, both sitting in their tank tops, Spencer notices the fast rising and falling of Aria's chest as her breathing has gotten faster. Heavy heaving herself, Spencer lunges back into the smaller brunette as Aria pulls her down into her, laying her back on the couch with her head against the armrest. Stroking her with her hand, exploring her face, her neck, and shoulders with her fingertips, Aria slips her hand around to tease the nape of Spencer's neck gently. Exploring her with their soft tongues swirling as they feel each other's passion, Aria briefly breaks the moment.

"Wait," She breathes out, "This couch….Can-can we go to one of the rooms, please?" Aria softly begs as Spencer looks down at her.

Nodding her head, Spencer climbs off of Aria and stands up, extending her hand to help the smaller brunette get to her feet. With her eyes ravishing with a smirk, a different look came over Aria's face as she begins to get up. Being completely turn on, more than she's ever been with Noel or anyone on campus for that matter, Aria jumps into Spencer's arms with Spencer using her quick reflects to catch her in time. Aria grabs Spencer's face as desperately kisses her again. Her tongue circling and playing over Spencer's tongue, flicking the tip of her tongue then playfully sliding under her upper lip, stroking the roof of her mouth. Spencer felt her body melting, trying to flow into Aria's warm mouth as she staggers in the direction of the rooms.

Suddenly, a loud sound resonances as the ringtone of ringing phone pulls Spencer away from the kiss. "Is that your phone?" Spencer asks in between Aria's avid kisses.

"That's probably Noel." She uncaringly responds, "Let him go to voicemail."

 **Ok, you can go ahead and start fangirling…..now.**

 **OMG! Did this put you in some kind of feels?! Because writing it put** _ **me**_ **in some kind of feels!**

 **I honestly feel like Aria's reveal to Spencer about her feelings was better than the A reveal. #ButImNotBitterAtAll**

 **But whoo! If you thought last chapter's was long, this chapter is a whopping 8,500 words.**

 **AKA the longest chapter I've** _ **ever**_ **made.**

 **Review! Review! Revieeeeeew!**


	18. Chapter 18 Different Gazes

_**As we proceed...**_

 _ **To give you what you need...**_

CHAPTER #18: Different Gazes

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

Mentally debating which room to go into, Spencer makes the split decision of choosing her room. Open the door with Aria kissing underneath her jawline, the smaller brunette glides her tongue over to Spencer's neck, sucking the skin with greed. The sensation that's waving through Spencer's body causes her to get incredibly weak, incredibly fast. She holds the back of Aria's head as she slowly places her down into the mattress. She pulls away from her to hurriedly take her shoes and socks off, Aria doing the same. Once finished, Aria forcibly pulls Spencer on top of her, nuzzling her gently with her soft tongue moving against Spencer's sensitive neck. Taking a step farther, Aria bites her carefully, not enough to leave a mark but enough to make Spencer tense up and sigh.

"Fuck..."

Aria moves up to kiss her earlobe, sucking it suggestively, allowing Spencer feel her warm breath against her skin and her fingers teasing her neck. Both beginning to breathe harder now, Spencer moves her hands up to Aria's face. She diverts Aria from her ear back to her mouth as she begins kissing her again. Spencer response to Aria's attentiveness with her tongue fondling her mouth with deep, penetrative strokes, causing Aria to let out a satisfying whimper. Spencer's hand moves over her thighs, caressing them with her fingertips, drawing lazy patterns on the fabric of her jeans. In an instant reaction, Aria moves her legs further apart as she kisses Spencer hard with heavenly desperation.

Spencer caresses Aria's tiny fame in soothing strokes, however, hesitating at moving up Aria's chest. As Aria latches onto Spencer's lip, she grabs Spencer's hand and places them on her breast. Internally surprised by the directness, Spencer keeps her hand still for a few moments before she gently rubs Aria through the thin fabric of her tank top. Feeling their shape, their warmth. Aria moans lightly, her tongue flicking a little harder in Spencer's mouth. She mumbles unintelligible words of her pleasure and her passion as Spencer touches them, moving her fingertips over them in a slow, easy rhythm. Aria pushes her chest towards the brunette, eager for more, wanting more of Spencer's touch.

Waving her body underneath her, Aria's hands work up Spencer's sides to her back, slipping her hands underneath her tank top, dragging her nails up and down Spencer's warm skin. Coming to a barrier, also known as Spencer's bra, Aria effortless unhooks them with both hands.

" _Wait_..." Spencer breaks the kiss feeling her bra still attached to her shoulders dangle. "I've never done this…with a girl before." Spencer quietly clarifies as she sits up, straddling Aria as she looks down into her round hazel eyes.

"Me either," She responds with a flirtatious smirk, her eyes following her hand as she slides them up Spencer's torso, "Doesn't mean we still can't try."

"But...If we don't know what to do, how is this going to work?"

Aria rests her hand on Spencer's thigh, caressing it with her head tilted to the side, "I mean...I've watched a few things before. I have a pretty good idea of what to do."

Spencer laughs as the warms of Aria's hand spends heightened sensitivity throughout her, "You've watched lesbian porn?"

"It's educational!" Aria defenses herself with a giggle, "Just...the things you like done to you, do it to the other person. It's pretty simple."

Spencer's smile dwindles as she looks down at Aria's fingers making designs on her jeans. She places her fingers in the same path of Aria's as she too traced a pattern, "Do...do you want to go all the way...?" She asked in a hushed nervous tone.

Aria interlaces their fingers together with both of her hands and gazes into Spencer's anxious eyes. "Do you want to?" Aria whispers back, "Because there is nothing else I'd rather be doing than to be here with you in this moment." With silence filling the room and soft tapping of what seems to be rain outside, Spencer stares deep into Aria's eyes, looking from left to right as she takes in the sight beneath her. Aria brings their right intertwined hand towards her, guiding Spencer's hand to rest on her face. Spencer feels the warmth of Aria's cheek as she gently caresses her. Not breaking eye contact, Aria smiles before she moves her mouth to the side to kiss Spencer's thumb. Spencer gazes at her in a slight daze as she watches Aria bring her thumb to her mouth, proceeding to suck it slowly. Spencer's lips parts faintly as her breathing became heavier, feeling almost surreal.

Spencer slowly pulls her thumb out of Aria's mouth as Aria challenges her to maintain eye contact.

"Touch me, Spencer." Aria demands in a soft and low voice dripped in seduction and desire, cocking her head to the side as she reaches up to remove Spencer's bra. Helping her, Spencer unhooks her bra from over her shoulder and removes it underneath her tank top, tossing it to the side. Aria runs her fingers through Spencer's hair as Spencer's eyes drift down to Aria's black jeans.

Spencer eases her nerves as she undo's Aria's denim. Stroking her hair, Aria gazes at Spencer in awe, looking over all of her beautiful features.

 _Her slim face._

 _High cheekbones._

 _Dark almond shaped eyes._

 _And the cute little beauty mark on the right side of her face._

Unbuttoning her pants and undoing the zipper, Spencer cautiously looks back up at Aria. The smaller brunette gives a small approving nod, inadvertently biting her lip as she waits for Spencer to make the first move. Gliding her fingers into the waistband of her lacy blue cheekys, Spencer pauses for a second. Feeling the apprehensions radiating from the brunette hovering over her, Aria reaches up and gives Spencer a quick, supportive kiss. Spencer smiles at Aria's cuteness causing Aria to do it again, letting her know it's OK.

" _I want you, Spencer_..." Aria softly mouths onto Spencer's lips, gently pulling her down with a tug of her hair. " _I want you so much right now_..."

Overcoming her nervousness with just a few words, Spencer dips her fingers into Aria's underwear, feeling the heat of her skin. Aria's breath hitches at the touch of Spencer's hand but ultimately relaxes. She begins to stroke Spencer's soft hair, looking deep into her brown eyes through the whole process.

Spencer uses her fingertip to tease her and slowly runs her finger up and down Aria's already wet opening, her lips feeling soft like delicate petals.

"Just like that..." Aria briefly closes her eyes as she moan ever so softly, lightly jerking her hips to intensify the sensation.

With each stroke up and down, Spencer allows her finger to penetrate the brunette in a curious way. She's received with slick warmth, tightness and Aria's soft whimpers of encouragement. Spencer raises her eyes to meet Aria's as her finger slides in to her effortlessly when she finally decides to ease herself into her. As she meticulously watches over Aria biting her lip in pure pleasure, Spencer adds a second finger.

Aria leans up and kisses Spencer again, pulling her down into her as Spencer slowly and deliberately begins to push, slipping her fingers in and out. Completely taken over, Aria spreads her legs even wider, wanting Spencer deep inside her. Spencer picks up a slow and sensual rhythm. Moaning heavier into Spencer's mouth, Aria desperately pushes her body against her.

"Yes, Spencer... _Yes_..." Aria's kissing has become passionate yet eager and needy. Her tongue swirls against Spencer's, showing her passion. But, at this moment, kissing isn't enough somehow and the two are frantic in the way they use their tongues on each other. Spencer matches the rhythm of her tongue with the rhythm of her thrusting fingers simultaneously as she grinds on the smaller brunette.

After a few seconds, Spencer becomes aware of Aria's hips jerking more and more frequently. She can feel her tightening around her fingers, wetter, dripping with arousal.

"You feel so good, Aria" Spencer leans over to Aria's ear and whispers with lust. Aria breathing gets denser, moaning with delicious anguish. "Do you like this?" Spencer questions as she continues to finger her, gradually upping her slow and firm rhythm.

Aria tries to create a reply but is too occupied on containing her breathing. The liquid sounds of Aria's slickness fills the air in response instead. Spencer feels her warm and wet around her fingers, getting tighter with every passing second. Aria quivers small noises as tightly grips Spencer's free hand.

" _Spencer_..." Aria whimpers out in hoarseness. "Spencer...Spence I'm... _I'm_..."

Spencer trains her eyes on Aria and her attempt to relate her warning. "You're gonna cum?"

"Y-Yes! _Dontstopdon'tstopdon'tstop_..." Aria trails off as she intensely furs her brows with her eyes shut and mouth hanging open.

" _Fuuuck_!" With a few more seconds of Spencer stroking her, warm juice spills over her fingers as Aria's walls tighten down on her, holding Spencer hand in place with the force of her grip. She jerks quickly against Spencer as she moan out expletives. She throws her head back as she concentrates fully on her pleasure with her chest heaving rapidly up and down. Aria grinds against Spencer, still clamping her fingers in quick, rhythmic spasms. After what seems to last for a long time, Aria gradually comes to a stop. Still breathing hard, Spencer slowly removes herself out of her.

Catching her breath, Aria's eyes flutter open with a smile making its way across her face. "Oh my god," she laughs as she lifts her hand to her forehead. "Either you're a liar or you're an extremely quick learner." She huffs out in-between breaths.

"I didn't get into an Ivy League just by my looks," Spencer coyly remarks as she leans down to kiss Aria once more.

"Mmmmm," Aria moans as she presses her lips against Spencer's. Pulling apart, she reaches for Spencer's hand, grabs her index and middle finger and placing them in her mouth, gently sucking on them in the same stroking motion Spencer used on her.

"You are a tease, you know that?" Spencer smirks, causing Aria to giggle. " _Seriously_...I can't get enough of you doing that..." Spencer's smile fades as she watches Aria suck the juices right off her fingers. She looks up to her eyes where Aria holds her, gazing into each other's eyes.

" _Shit_..." Spencer whispers to herself.

Finishing off, Spencer slides her fingers along Aria's bottom lip, pulling them down before allowing it to snap into place.

"I need to take these fucking jeans off," Aria grumbles to herself as she starts to pull off her jeans. Following her direction, Spencer proceeds to take off hers as well. With the different articles flying and hitting the floor, 10 seconds later, Spencer remained in their tanks and underwear as Aria only in her top.

"C'mere," Aria motions Spencer with her finger. Crawling towards the smaller brunette, Aria leans in and pecks her, kissing her ever so gently.

"Lay down."

Doing as she's told, Spencer gets comfortable and lays her back into the mattress, internally anticipating what's to come. Aria examines her body from head to toe, her piercing gaze sends delectable shivers down Spencer's spine causing her insides to quiver.

"You have very….beautiful….skin..." Aria remarks as she gazes over Spencer's body, allowing her finger to tenderly graze her thighs, "And I want to be able to kiss every inch of it."

Her words becomes Spencer's undoing. Desire courses through her veins, settling dark and yearning low in her stomach.

Aria leans over and rests her fingertips at the bottom of Spencer's top. She slowly raises it causing Spencer to take the liberty of taking it off. As Spencer on undresses, Aria does the same taking off her t-shirt. Opening her eyes from lifting her tank over her head, Spencer is greeted by a topless Aria sitting in front of her. Trying not to gawk at her breasts, Aria peers over and reaches for Spencer using the tips of her fingers to make a slow circle pattern on her chest. Spencer's breathing already becoming rhythmic, her eyes reflecting the fire of desire as Aria finds herself tasting her skin. The softness of her breasts succulent to Aria's lips, Spencer's nipples get a brushing of Aria's tongue, making sure she shows enough attention to both. Spencer sighs enjoying the feeling of Aria's warm mouth clasping onto her.

After a set of long seconds, Aria begins her journey further south. Softly and slowly her hands roam between Spencer's knees and the very highest of spots at the top of her thighs. A few traces of shy smiles between deeper breaths comes from the taller brunette as the touches tickle her. She jerks a slight withdrawal, quickly returning to her place to enjoy the touches. Aria places soft kisses on her belly, "I can still smell the faint trace of your dove body wash," Aria smiles as she places another kiss. Spencer let's out a small laugh as Aria nibbles her way around her navel, working her body between her legs. Spencer closes her eyes as Aria makes her way around Spencer's lower half. Seeing her red boy shorts getting in the way, Aria gently pulls them down, gazing at the next step in her journey. Slipping them completely off and tossed behind her, Aria takes a very slow exaggerated kiss to Spencer's labia. Her hands presses against Spencer's inner thighs, preventing her from folding them inward. Spencer squirms against Aria's hands as her kisses become deeper. Spencer takes a sharp intake of air as Aria's tongue glides across, making elaborate slow flicks. She works around her, pressuring the sides and withdrawing as she gets over her clit. Aria draws a sensual line with her tongue down her center causing Spencer to moan out softly, gripping her hair.

" _Fuck_...fuck that feels good." Spencer slightly arches her back off the bed.

"Mmmhmmm…" Aria vibrates as she glances up at Spencer.

Working her way up the side and back down from the top, Aria stops at the hood and begins her circles. Spencer's hips moving with the movements of Aria's tongue, her nipples could cut diamonds at this point as Aria's finger tips gently move across them on their orbital path around her breasts. The smooth inside induces her even more as she works her way down for a quick deep tongue penetration before heading north to her clit again. The circles continue through the small gasps Spencer breathes out. Looking directly up at her, Aria notices how it seems like Spencer is holding back. Raising an eyebrow, the tip of Aria's tongue focuses on elaborate traces of designs directly and continuously on her Spencer's nerves.

Feeling her warm tongue gliding everywhere, the sensation between Spencer's legs starts to build again. The hot bloodied lust travels through her body as Aria pulls back and flips her hair out of her face. She glances at Spencer with a small smile as she places two fingers inside her. Spencer lifts neck off the pillow as she leaves her mouth agape, Aria mocking her facial expressions.

"You're so beautiful."

Spencer's body rocks together with her fingers as it hooks and curls inside her, stroking her G-spot. Spencer steadies herself to meet Aria's rhythm while she feels her other hand slid up her torso and cups her breast firmly. Gasping with her eyes closed, feeling the familiar urge in her stomach building again, Aria leans over Spencer and kisses her, slowly yet firmly.

" _Oh my god...Oh my god..._ " Pressing herself into her, picking up the stroke, Spencer face starts to redden as a thick vein appears on the side of her neck.

Breaking Aria's kisses with her constant gasping, Aria whisper as she grazes her tongue across Spencer's lip, "Cum for me..."

Spencer's mouth stays open as she arches her back into Aria's hand, making not a sound. Aria whispers in Spencer's ear once more as she strokes in and out of her. Spencer's eyes flicker open and close, showing only the whites of her eyes when her body jerks. Unable to control herself at this point, Spencer let's out a hoarse whimper as she lets the orgasm rush through her body. Trapping Aria's fingers, the wave ripples down the Spencer's walls and tightens around her. All out of breath as each pulse of orgasm leaves her body, Aria slips out of Spencer, leaning toward her and kisses her softly to ride out with gentle touches.

Opening her eyes to see Aria with the darkness accenting her face above her, Spencer gulps as her heavy chest begins to get back to semi normal.

"You're shaking..." Aria points out the minor tremor Spencer is experiencing. Concern spreads over Aria as she rubs Spencer's side. "Are you okay?"

Spencer blinks as she nods her head, assuring Aria's worried demeanor. Aria eyes drift down to Spencer chest, watching it rise up and down before she slowly lowers her head to rest on top of it. Aria listens to Spencer's heartbeat, hearing the intensity of the pacing sounding as if she just got done with a track race.

"Your heart is beating so fast right now." Aria places a hand on her chest feeling her own heart, "Probably trying to mirror with my heart beat..." Aria extends her hand over to interlace with Spencer's, soothing away the subtle shaking.

…..

"It was this past fall. Katherine and I were here on a Friday night with a couple others and we heard Ashton, the RA, making noise in the hallway. I open the door, peeking my head out there and he has two bottles of Smirnoff sitting on the floor by the door of the staircase: one green apple and the other watermelon. So, my adventurous, rebellious self darted out there, grabbed the bottles and ran back into the room."

"Why do I know you're not lying?" Spencer laughs as Aria plays with her fingers while they laid under the sheets facing each other.

"Because I'm not!" Aria giggles back, "So, I guess coming back to retrieve his drinks he left so carelessly in the hallway, we hear him freaking out; banging on doors, ordering people to give his drinks back. We hurr-"

"Wait a second…" Spencer cuts her off mid story telling as her brain goes back to the fall semester in her old dorm. She gasps, looking at Aria with wide eyes as the lightbulb finally pops, " _That was you_! _You_ were the reason why he came downstairs, banging on my door like, "Give me my shit! I know one of you little fucks took my bottle."

Aria abruptly bursts into laughter, quickly covering her mouth.

"I was like, "What the flying _fuck_?!" Spencer recreates the very face she made at Ashton's wild accusation: Pinched eyebrows, narrowed eyes, and a mouth hanged open in bewilderment. "Are you on drugs?!"

"Oh my gosh! What did he say-what did he say?" Aria snuggles closer to Spencer, peering at her like a child submerged into an intriguing storytelling.

"He was all like, "Someone took my drinks and I want it _now_ before I write y'all up for theft of property." Spencer mimics in her best impression of a frantic manly voice. "At that moment, I was seriously about to fight him because what the fuck?! He's yelling like a fucking rabid, unloved animal, accusing me of theft when I literally had awoken from a coma because of his obnoxious banging. Then after he left, I was about five seconds away from fighting Sarah because if anyone stole anything, it would be her."

Aria eyes crinkle at the corners as she continues to laugh from the depths of her stomach, gripping her sides as she tries to calm herself down.

"And of course, it was you." Spencer softens her voice as she watches Aria beam with happiness, "You weren't even in my life yet and you were already causing me hell."

Aria glances down, tenderly touching Spencer's long fingers as she softly rubs her leg against Spencer's leg, "Well, maybe that's the universe's way of telling us that we were destined to meet one another. I mean, just think. If one of us decided to break the chain and not go to the library to study that night…" Aria glances back up to Spencer's gentle brown eyes, "We wouldn't be here right now. I don't think I would have ever looked twice at you any other time."

"Well why did you? I wasn't the most nicest person to you at first..."

"There was a certain… _amusement_ with you." Aria explains, "It was like every time you saw me, your energy would just _drain_ and I found that to be comical. I knew that I could push you enough, knowing that you wasn't going to actually get physical with me." Aria bites her lip as she slowly goes from draping her leg over Spencer onto crawling her warm naked body on top of her, "But I must say…I was totally wrong about the concept of us getting physical." Aria lowers the pitch in her voice, placing a small kiss on Spencer's lip, "I like it, _a lot_."

Spencer smirks as Aria begins to softly kiss her, "You're really trying to start up again?" She murmurs into the kiss.

"I'm ready for round two if you are."

…

Carefully stroking Aria's hair as she looks out into the room in front of her, Spencer and Aria's breathing matches as Aria finds herself laying on Spencer's chest once again. Not saying anything but letting the silence and the moment talk for them, Spencer minds wonders as the dark skies gradually lighten from her room window.

"You know we don't have to go in today." Aria softly rasps out, realizing that they've been awake throughout the entire night, knowing classes were in the morning. "We can just stay here and catch up later."

"I would…" Spencer replies back in the same hushed whisper, blinking to herself at the fairytale night she's had, "But I can't. Besides, I think we have an Art quiz today on chapter 5."

"…Fuck." Aria burrows her face into Spencer's chest, paining her face in completely dismissal of the test. "I haven't even looked over the material."

"It's not going to be hard." Spencer scratches Aria's scalp in reassurance, "Just quizzing us on artists and their paintings. You're fine."

"I don't want to move." Aria groans as she rests her face on its side again, staring at the cream wall in front of her.

Seeing that her phone is somewhere on the floor, Spencer twists her head to her left to look at her alarm clock glowing red numbers, "It's only 5:43. We still have time for a power nap." She relaxes back into position, "Let's see who can last on two hours' worth of sleep without crashing and burning first."

"Don't bet on me." Aria closes her eyes as she wraps her arms tighter around Spencer, getting comfortable, "I already lost. I'm going to pass out right in Dr. Adams class while she bitches about how much of a fuck up our generation is."

Spencer let's out a small chuckle as she adjusts herself one last time. Silence fills the room again, causing Spencer to close her eyes as well and drift into a relaxed sleep.


	19. Chapter 19: Open Arms and Fresh Food

**To my** _ **Acquired Madness**_ **readers: Do not fret. I said I won't leave you hanging. You'll understand later :)**

CHAPTER #19: Open Arms and Fresh Food

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

"It is fascinating to think how much we can learn about people just by stopping to observe. Whether we're people-watching from within a train, noting the tattoos of the man across from us and the tiny circles the bespectacled woman is making with her left foot, or we're seated in a coffee shop — watching the world go by outside, no one aware of our existence or our brief window into their world — we transcend into a different state of being. It is both empowering and particularly lonely, as if we are ghosts noting the existence of everyone as they continue right past, never once aware of us."

Spencer watches and listens to Dr. Hasleberger give his take on the next topic they are to embark on after taking their quiz earlier.

"When you are people-watching you can see the peculiar perversity that-"

Spencer peeks out of the corner of her eyes to catch Aria absentmindedly tap the eraser of her pencil against her bottom lip. Feeling eyes on her, Aria slightly turns her head to catch Spencer's glance. Smiling to herself -looking back at her professor lecturing in front of the class- Aria begins to pull her bottom lip with the end of her pencil, knowing that Spencer is watching. The voice of the professor quickly turns into background noise as Spencer becomes entertained by Aria's taunting. Looking at the brunette out of the corner of her eye, Aria bites on the eraser in a seductive but discreet manor, wanting to provoke some kind of reaction. Spencer silently chuckles as she leans back in her chair, crossing her arms, trying to seem at least somewhat attentive to the lecture although her interests are on her private little show. Seeing that she's limited options being surrounded in a class, Aria discreetly looks around before she bends her left arm close to her and extended her right arm for a yawn. A particular yarn that involved her hanging her mouth open and sticking her chest out, bringing her right arm in and tracing her hand down her chest. Just enough for Spencer to press her lips together with her fingers covering her mouth as she returns her eyes back to Dr. Hasleberger, trying to contain her smile.

When finished with her small act, Aria mouths 'sorry' to the student behind her before she peeks back at Spencer with her pencil twirling between her fingers and a smirk faintly on her lips.

"-With your neighbor but with the other two, Instead of choosing your own, we'll leave it up to chance. Because, in the real world, not everything goes as how you want it to." Dr. Hasleberger walks over to his podium holding his laptop. "But sometimes….that's the beauty of life."

Wiping the smile of her face and replacing it with confusion as the professor calls out names, Aria leans into Spencer with a whisper, "Wait, what are we doing?"

" _Well_ , if you weren't trying to have a peep show and actually paid attention, you would know, now would you…?"

Aria smiles back with a raised eyebrow, "You don't know either because you were too busy _watching_ my _peep show_."

Spencer rolls her eyes with a shake of her head, looking back to the front of the class, "I have no idea what he's doing."

" _Alriiight_. Spencer Hastings….since your neighbor is Miss. Aria Montgomery, you two will be paired up with…." The professor generates names from the class roll out of a random draw simulated on his computer, "Alexandria Sands and ….. Mackenzie Dillon."

As people start leaving their tables and moving around, Aria and Spencer sit in their seats, lagging at the lack of instructions they've missed. As they began to round up their things to follow the crowd, a person sets their belongings down across from Spencer. The two brunettes look at the person before a few seconds later another person sets their things down across from Aria.

Slowly taking out their possessions again, Aria and Spencer gaze at the two new students in front of them: One girl and one guy.

Spencer narrows her eyes in confusion as Aria begins her greetings, "Alexandria and…..M-Mackenzie?" She shifts her sights at the blond sitting in front of her.

"Expecting a girl were you?" He sighs out, seemingly like this wasn't his first rodeo with the name and gender mix-up.

Aria quickly shakes her head, "No-No! I was uhmm…was uhmm….. _well_ … _kinda_ …" She cringes out of embarrassment, "Sorry."

"It's okay. Happens more than I would like," Pulling out his laptop from his case, Mackenzie sits in front of Aria and Spencer with a clean shaven, baby face and medium blonde hair tapered at the sides but hair falling longer at the top. Dressed in a black military style long coat with a coordinating tan sweater and jeans to match, he definitely lived up to the ' _Ivy League Preppy Look_ '. "You can just call me by my last name, Dillon. Dillon Mackenzie sounds so much more appealing."

"I mean…I like the name Mackenzie." Aria recovers as she tries to make her new group member comfortable, "It's rare-rare is good." Aria looks to Spencer and bumps her leg under the table to get her to speak up.

"Yeah, Mackenzie is a nice name." Spencer jerks up, "It's very unique…for you…the name."

"Thanks," The blond looks up at the two girls from the bridge of his nose with a small smile.

Spencer turns the other new group member sitting quietly at the table, "Hi." She greets the classmate she's never seem to notice before, "I'm Spencer Hastings."

"And I'm Aria. Aria Montgomery." Aria pitches in.

"Alexandria Sands" Her mature set voice speaks up through her unmoving expression for the first time since arriving to her new group partners. With her dark plum hair resting in a high ponytail as she wears the typical " _I'm not dressing up today. I'd rather go in baggy sweats and a non-matching color hoodie_ college attire, Spencer picks up that maybe Alexandria is having a slow morning.

"Talk. Get to know one another. Exchange numbers if you must." Dr. Hasleberger talks over the small chatter inside the classroom, "Because you will be seeing a lot of one another over the course of this semester."

….

Fixing her gloves as they walk outside, Aria and Spencer walk down the building stairs as they embrace the cold weather.

"One day, you're going to get caught if you keep putting on those silent performances." Spencer remarks as she shoves her hands into her coat.

"I honestly don't know what you are talking about." Aria lifts her head as she faces straight ahead, "I was just listening to my professor speak and yawned once. It _is_ pretty early in the morning, Spencer."

" _Mhmmm_. Stretching like this," Spencer mimics Aria's stretch with a slight exaggeration in her arched back, stuck out chest and overly sexual hung open mouth, " _Yeah_.…That yawn was just a product of an early morning."

Aria giggles as she playfully slaps Spencer on the arm, "A product of an early morning and long evening. It wasn't my fault that _somebody_ decided to keep me up all night last night."

Spencer rolls her eyes with a smile as Aria clings onto her arm, walking to their spot at an intersection of one of their school's courtyards. Turning to face each other, Aria takes a step closer to Spencer.

"Try not to miss me too much when I'm gone."

"Don't worry, I won't." Spencer replies with a neutral face but all the smiles in her eyes.

The smaller, bundled up brunette bites her lip as she squeezes Spencer's arm one last firm squeeze before she lets her go and goes her separate way, waving bye for the rest of the day until they see each other later.

...

Having a bit of extra time left between her Art class and her next course, Spencer takes a detour towards the university's gymnasium to check the break room's bulletin board for a new announcement that was placed today.

Scanning through the many papers pinned up and pinned over other people's messages, Spencer finds the only paper that matters to her.

" _Hastings, Hastings, Hastings_..." Spencer mumbles to herself as her finger traced down a list of names. Carefully going through the typed out names, she finds her name printed in the center of her. "Yes!" Spencer shouts, seeing that she was the only person in the room. She looks back at the list again for confirmation.

Spencer Hastings.

" _Fuck yes!"_ She jumps up and down out of joy with a celebratory fist pump. With the widest grin on her face, Spencer does a small little dance, swinging her arms from side to side as she sings to herself.

"You got it! You got it! I got it! I got it!"

Stopping herself before someone walks in on her doing her questionable act, Spencer calms herself down, takes a deep breath, and walks out of the break room as if nothing happened.

…

Walking down the floor of her next class, Aria gets ready to start her next lecture. She turns the corner just for her eyes to immediately see Noel leaning against the wall neighboring her classroom door. Great… _Freaking great..._

"Hey, Aria." Noel greets her walking towards him. Aria ignores his hello and walks right past him, not even daring to make eye contact.

Noel catches up to her anyway, "I tried to call you last night."

 **Suddenly, a loud sound resonances as the ringtone of ringing phone pulls Spencer away from the kiss. "Is that your phone?" Spencer asks in between Aria's avid kisses.**

 **"That's probably Noel." She uncaringly responds, "Let him go to voicemail."**

"I was busy." Aria coldly informs him as she continues her path to her seat.

"Aria," Noel begs as he keeps his speed right behind her, "Can we please talk?"

Getting to her seat, Aria shrugs as she places her stuff down and begins to make herself comfortable, "What is there to talk about?"

"Aria, please." Noel places his hands on top of Aria's desk, trying his best to make things up with Aria. At least having her not mad at him, "I don't like how things ended last night. I just want to talk to you, please."

Taking off her gloves, paring it and putting them in bag, Aria unbuttons her red winter coat and hangs it on the back her chair. She goes back into her bag and rummages through it, placing her daily class supplies on the desk in front of her.

"Baby, I-"

"Good morning class. I hope you all had a nice weekend." Dr. Adams walks through the doors of the classroom, prompting everyone to quiet down and get ready for her lecture. Still keeping his eyes on Aria, Noel watches Aria completely ignore his existence as she opens up her notebook and click her mechanical pencil until lead comes out to write. Noel dejectedly sighs as he leans off of her desk. He slowly makes it to his seat behind her, tossing his bag to the side as he drops down into his seat, staring at the back of Aria's head in despondency.

...

Coming to her dorm after a long morning of classes, Spencer does a quick switch of dropping her class bag and picking up her sports bag. Having little time to herself, Spencer rushes towards the door to leave when she stops herself. She ponders for a quick second and rushes back to her room, into her other bag. She grabs a post-it note and a pen, scribbles down a few words and fast walks it to the kitchen where she sticks the note on the fridge. With no time to waste, she jogs to the front door and leaves for her first day of practice.

...

Coming to the dorms a few hours earlier because of a canceled class, Aria excitedly expects to see Spencer upon putting her keys through the door.

" _Honey_ , I'm hooooome!" Aria opens the door with extended arms.

 _Silence._

She closes and locks the door behind her, hanging her keys by the door, " _Spenceeeeeer_! Come out, come out wherever you aaaareee!"

 _Silence._

Aria narrows her eyes at the stillness as she takes off her shoes and begins to take off her winter gear. "Spencer?" She walks towards the bathroom. _Empty_. She walks into Spencer's room. _Vacant_. She even checks Aria's room just in case she left her a surprise. _Nobody_.

"Hmph. She should be home by now..." Aria pulls out her phone to see no new messages left by her roommate. That's when she walks back towards the living room to give Spencer a call.

 _Ring...  
Ring...  
Ring...  
Ring...  
Ring..._

" _Hi_ , you have reached me, Spencer Hastings. I, unfortunately, cannot answer this call at this time but if you can leave me your name and your number, I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!"

 _Beep!_

"When I arrive to my dorm, I expect my roommate to greet me with open arms...and possibly fresh food. So, you can imagine my disapproval when I came back to my dorm after a _loooong_ , stressful day to _no roommate_ and _no fresh food_." Aria sees a note posted on the fridge, tears it off and reads it to herself. "Spencer Hastings where did yo-" Reading what Spencer left for her, Aria gasps loudly, "Oh my gosh! You made the team! _You made the team_!" Aria jams her fingers into her hair as she anxiously looks around inside the kitchen for nothing in particular, "Ok- _uhm_ \- forget everything I said 20 seconds ago! I'll greet you with open arms and fresh food! _Ahh_ , Spencer I'm so proud of you! Ok, ok, you're probably at practice right now so focus on that and I'm going to do... _something_. Ok! Talk to you later! Bye!"

Aria hangs up the phone call and brings her phone to her chest. "Okay. Think Montgomery, think. How are we going to celebrate this...?" Aria paces back and forth within her kitchen as she racks her brain with appropriate plans during a school night. Having a light bulb moment, Aria snaps her fingers at a sudden idea. Running over to her coat, gloves, and purse, Aria throws back on her winter apparel, sliding on her shoes and nabbing her keys in the process before running out the door.

...

After a quick, sporadic run, Aria enters the lobby of her College House with a wrapped up surprised held in her hands. Trying to beat Spencer back, Aria walks as quickly but as unsuspecting as possible.

"Where are _you_ running off to, little one?"

Aria turns around to see Wren walking towards the edge of the front desk with a curious smile.

"Oh, just went to the store really quick," Aria huffs out an excuse.

"I suppose whatever is under there isn't for me, is it?"

"Nope, actually it's for Spencer. She made the team today so it's a small token of a celebration," Aria smiles as she looks down at her hands. She glances back up at Wren as she slowly begins to walk away, "When you see her, make sure to congratulate her!" Aria stops herself before she continues to move on, "And you didn't see me come through here with anything, okay?"

"My lips are sealed," Wren zips his mouth with his fingers in a mime gesture.

Aria thanks him with a nod before she's off to her dorm floor.

...

Using one hand to hold her treat and the other to fumble in her purse for her keys, Aria mentally curses herself for having so many things thrown into her bag.

" _Aria_?"

The random voice prompts Aria to swiftly turn around, just to immediately turn to face her door again. "This is not the time, Noel."

"You can't ignore me forever, Ar." Noel walks up to the side of Aria. Noticing her slight struggle, he offers to give her hand but she refuses. Getting the key into the lock and unlocking her door, Aria pushes the door open.

"I will text you when I have the time." The brunette walks into her dorm and stands beside her door.

"I don't want to _text_ you, Aria. I want to _talk_ to you. Why are you shutting me out?"

"Noel, I am busy and tired, ok? Let's not do this. I will _talk_ to you later." Aria gives a forced side smile as she closes the door.

Noel quickly puts his hand on the door, stopping Aria from closing it on him. " _Aria_..." Noel gazes down at her with sad eyes and a softer voice, "I miss you."

Aria closes her eyes with a sigh, not wanting to her such words. Especially with feelings behind them, "Go home, Noel."

There is silence from Noel as he continues to stare at Aria, trying to read her face for anything. After moments of her not budging, he lifts her hand off the door. "Fine...Tell Spencer I said congratulations on making the team." With no extra second spared, Noel walks away from the door and towards the exit stairs where he disappears behind the door.

...

Opening her dorm door, Spencer is immediately greeted by Aria who has been waiting for her in the living room. Taking a running start, Aria jumps on Spencer, causing Spencer to use her quick reflexes once again to catch her in time.

"Congratulations on making the team, Spence!" Aria places a big kiss on Spencer's lips before pulling away and wrapping her arms around her neck. "I got you something for the new news." She points to the kitchen bar, "It's nothing fancy since the short notice but I thought you might enjoy it."

Spencer tiredly drags herself and baby Aria to the kitchen to see Aria's surprise. An ice cream cake with Spencer's first name written in Upenn's blue and red colors as _'Spenncer'_ and white intersecting lacrosse sticks underneath.

Aria smiles as she leans over to reach for the plate and fork she had placed beside the desert. " _See_. You put the _'Penn'_ in ' _Spenncer'_." She cuts a decent portion of the cake and places it on her plate and straightens back into Spencer's carrying hold. "Taste" She cuts a piece onto the fork and feeds the desert to Spencer.

"Hmmm..." Spencer chews as Aria engagingly watches. "Reese's?"

"You are so smart." Aria gushes.

"Thank you for this, honestly." Spencer gives her appreciation through her low eyes and husked voice as she makes her way to the couch, "But I am so tired. It was hell for a first day of practice."

"Aww! I'm sorry." Aria cringes as Spencer takes a seat on the couch with Aria still wrapped around her.

"All it showed me is how out of shape I've gotten." Spencer aches as she leans her head back into the couch. "I'm _soooo_ sore."

Aria cuts another piece of the ice cream cake, "Here, open" Spencer lifts her head up to receive another fork full of desert.

"Hmmm, this is so good." Spencer mumbles through her mouth full. "Where did you get this?"

"At the bakery shop not too far from here" Aria cuts another piece of the ice cream.

"From Betty Brown's?"

"No," Aria leans back, sitting in Spencer's lap as Spencer rests her hands on her backside, "Insomnia Cookies."

"Hmmm."

Aria feeds Spencer another slice of the cake with Spencer deliciously sighing with every bite. " _So_ …tell me all about practice."

 **Just wanted to say, if I haven't told you guys a million times, I appreciate all of you _so so so_ much and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.**

 **Sharing is caring, help allow the poor souls who've been living in the dark to find this fic! Tell your neighbors about it! :D**


	20. Chapter 20: Where Do We Stand?

CHAPTER #20: Where Do We Stand?

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Clocking it in early for the night, Spencer lies with Aria in the smaller brunette's bed with Spencer's head on Aria's stomach as she reads her book and softly strokes Spencer's hair.

"Since you're on the team now, what position are you hoping to get?"

"I'm content with many position..." Spencer responds as she looks at the wall in front of her, "Second home would be nice. Center too."

"What's a second home and center?"

"Normally the best player on the team gets center. They're the most valuable in the switch from defense to offense. Second home the attack player with the stick skills. Because the second home orchestrates the offense and makes the passes that help the offense run smoothly, that position is usually the attack's leader." Spencer stares off as she imagines herself on the field for her first game. Running out there in her uniform to stand against her opponent. The feeling she'll have, the rush, the power she feels running through her veins, "I've been both positions in high school but I'm pretty sure it won't correlate that much into college."

Aria flips the page of her book before she softly slides her fingers across Spencer's scalp with her free hand resting on Spencer's back, "I'm sure whatever position you'll get, you'll score many, _many_ points for the team. 10, 20, 30 points a game." She glances down at Spencer with a smile, "You'll be the MVP every game."

Hearing Aria's remarks could only make Spencer laugh seeing how supportive she is but also how clueless she is when it comes to scoring in the game of lacrosse. " _Okay_ , Aria." She giggles as she nuzzles herself into a comfortable position before she closes her eyes and leaves the sight of the white wall as Aria continues her reading, caressing Spencer to a nice and easy sleep.

…..

Waking up early in the morning with no classes to go to for the next day, Aria takes a spoonful of her Trix cereal as she looks outside at the fresh amount of snowfall that appeared overnight. She chews the sugary cereal as she watches students try to navigate their way through the courtyard without trying to fall. Moments after people-watching, Spencer emerges from the bathroom and groggily makes her way towards the kitchen as she rubs her eyes.

"Morning, sleepy-head," Aria smiles as she turns away from the window and walks towards the kitchen bar.

" _Morning_ …"

"Hey, so what do you think about our new partners, Alexandria and Mackenzie?" Aria asks as she takes a seat, "I'm thinking of inviting them over today."

"Well, Mackenzie seems cool so far..." Spencer replies as she grabs her ground coffee bag out of the pantry, "You'll probably click with him the most."

" _Really_? Why do you say that?"

"I dunno, it just feels like you would."

"He has this preppy, snobby feel to him though." Aria looks down at her bowl before taking another spoonful, "You know the kind that everyone in his family went to ivy-leagues and are big hot shots, probably giving charity checks to the school. Probably always got A's and was the top of everything and every club. And he probably owns a horse or something." She quickly adds in with the twist of her nose.

Spencer stops mid coffee process to look over at Aria carelessly munching away, "Ok, so you know you just basically described me, right?"

Aria stops and lifts her head, pondering Spencer and a hypothetical Mackenzie's possible lifestyle connection, "Well...looks like I already love him" She gives Spencer a cheesy grin, "Mackenzie and I will get along just fine."

"Hm." Spencer mumbles as she pours her coffee into the filter.

"Well..." Aria swallows, "What about Alexandria?"

"Don't have much to say since she didn't really talk."

"Ehh. I give her the benefit of the doubt. I mean it _was_ a Monday. We've all had those sweats and hoodie days." Aria points her spoon at Spencer, "I met _you_ on a sweats and hoodie day. Granted, you were acting like the offspring of Grinch and Scrooge but look how you turned out."

"And you were acting like a child when I met you. Look how you turned out," Spencer walks over to the sink and lifts up the faucet handle to fill the coffee maker, "Still a demonic spawn." Aria laughs as she gives Spencer the finger before she goes back to her cereal. "Besides doesn't matter what we think. We already have an assignment due with them."

"Do you want to work on it now?"

"Can't. I have to go redo my soul deal with the demons in my life."

" _What_?" Aria shoots a perplexed look over at Spencer.

"I have to go the Financial Aid's office."

"Oh," Aria drinks the rest of her remaining milk before she hops out of the chair, "Tell Satan I said hi."

Spencer starts brewing her coffee and turns to face Aria with her back against the counter and her arms crossed, "Who's Satan?"

"Mrs. Weaver." Aria responds as she begins to wash out her bowl and spoon, "She always gives me problems every time I have to go into the cave she calls an office. She never has my paperwork and I'm always "owing" something. She even put a hold on my account so I couldn't register for any classes last semester."

"And you still want me to tell her hi?"

" _No_." Aria turns off the water and grabs a rag to dry her bowl, turning to face Spencer, "Kindly tell that hag to go fuck herself."

"Noted," Spencer laughs as she pushes herself off the counter.

...

Saying her 'thank yous' and "goodbyes' as she leaves the Financial Aid's office, Spencer walks down the hallway of that floor to head her way to go back to her dorm.

 _Maybe I want to stop by the shop and pick up a muffin? Ugh. A muffin sounds SO good right now. I hope they didn't run out of chocolate like last time. Wait, how much money did I bring with me? Did I even bring my wallet? I think I-_

"Spencer Hastings?"

Spencer turns around in the direction of that voice to find a white haired, older woman smiling a warm smile. "Dr. Addison! Hi!" Spencer surprisingly greets the superior, "H-how are you?"

"I'm just swell, darling." Dr. Addison responds with her arms outstretched, bringing in Spencer for a hug. After a quick moment, Spencer pulls back with polite smile.

"It's been a while, Dr. Addison."

"It surely has. How are you doing around this time?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just..." Spencer gives a small laughs to herself, "attacking things one book at a time."

"That's great, dear. I'm assuming you're staying on top of your studies, correct?" Dr. Addison lowers her head and raises an eyebrow with a slight smirk.

"Yes ma'am." Spencer nods affirmatively, "Always."

"Good, good." Dr. Addison gives a satisfied nod and smile back, "Speaking of, I talked to your mother not too long ago."

"You did?"

"Yes, we were just talking about how proud we are of you."

Spencer slowly nods with a closed-mouth smile, "Thank you, Dr. Addison-"

"Please, Spencer," Dr. Addison stops the brunette with the wave of her hand, "Call me Margaret."

"Yes, Dr. Ad-I mean Margaret." Spencer quickly corrects herself as she oddly calls her superior by her first name.

"But I'm glad that I reached you, I wanted to talk to you about something." Spencer shifts in her standing position as she puts all her weight on one leg and crosses her hands in front of her knowing that something was up. "You know about Penn GPA? The Government and Politics Association, Penn's largest political organization? Thinking over it, I believe that the program would be great with a promising Hastings and I would like you to consider joining us."

Spencer's eyes widen as her mouth parts open at the surprise gesture, "Oh, Margaret, that is a very honorable recommendation-"

"I know how much you are for standing up for what you believe in." Dr. Addison cuts off Spencer mid-sentence with an endearing smile that causes her eyes to wrinkle up in the corners.

Spencer forces a smile as she looks down at the hallway floor, "Yes, I am but...I'm not sure about it." Spencer's apologetic eyes drift back up to Dr .Addison with uncertainty. "With me being in the Honor's program, Speech and Debate, and now a new member of the Women's lacrosse team...I'm not sure I can uphold the responsibility of such a-a title."

"Oh Spencer, dear. Don't get cold feet." Dr. Addison smiles as she brushes off Spencer's uncertainty as she continues to push for more of an answer of her liking. "You are more than qualified to be a part of the association. You are one of the brightest young women I've ever came across. With a family background of your prestige and honor, it'll be great to add another notch to your belt."

"Dr. Addison, I-"

"And I've talked over the idea with your mother not too long ago about it. She thinks it's a wonderful society for you to engage in."

Spencer's cringing goes from sorry to surprise with a subtle tilt of her head, "You've talked to my mother?" Spencer questions, trying not to come off rude but wanting to understand.

"Why, yes." Dr. Addison rests her hand on her chest with a small smile, "Not strictly for that, however. We were in a conversation and I just asked her opinion on it to see if she'd think you'll be able to handle it."

Spencer holds to urge to roll her eyes as she switches her body weight onto her other leg, "And I bet that she said I was more than capable."

"Precisely."

Spencer steadily chews the inside of bottom lips as she turn head to the left, looking at the framed painting of a historic UPenn from decades ago. She lets out a sigh before she slides her eyes back to the woman clothed in a cheetah print scarf with the cufflinks of her coat to match, spewing Channel #5 from her pores with her white fluffy hair in a curled bob, "I'll consider over it, Dr. Addison."

"Splendid!" She cheers with a clap of her hands before she digs into her work bag that was hanging off the crease of her arm. "I brought this with me just in case I was to run into you." She pulls out a light blue folder and hands it to Spencer, "Fate works in funny ways, don't you think?"

Spencer looks down at the folder with a forced yet pained smile, "It sure does..."

...

Sitting up in her bed, sketching out a picture on her art notepad, Aria hears the jingling of keys followed up the opening and closing of her front door. "Spencer?!" Aria calls out as she focuses on her pad.

"Mmmmmm." Spencer grumbles out a response back.

"Come!"

After a few moments, Spencer slinks over to Aria's room with folder in hand and fatigue in face. Aria peeks up at Spencer only to do a double take seeing her demeanor. "Awww. My baby, what's wrong?" Aria coos in her baby voice as she pushes her pad to the side, puts her marker behind her ear and opens her arms out wide to receive to the grouchy looking Spencer.

Spencer groans as she sits on the edge of Aria's bed with her back to the smaller brunette. Aria crawls up behind Spencer and puts her arms around her waist and her chin on her shoulder, "What's wrong? Mrs. Weaver said something to you?"

"No, worse" Spencer passes over the folder over her shoulder for Aria to get a peek. Aria raises an eyebrow and skim through the folder's contents, glancing over application papers, requirements and a descriptive overview of the association and its members.

"Woah, this is awesome, Spence!" Aria exclaims with excitement causing Spencer to groan out as she rubs her temples. "Or-or not?"

"I ran into Dr. Addison-or should I say _Margaret_ today" Spencer imitates the older woman with a flick of her wrist and a fake smile on her face, "And she wanted me to join their little group. Or should I say large group."

"And you don't want to?" Aria sets the folder down in her lap and moves Spencer's hair to the side, exposing the right side of her neck.

"I mean it's not a bad offer but I literally have no time to."

"Then why couldn't you tell her that?"

"I tried. Countless of times. But she wouldn't let up. Also because she spoke to my mother." Spencer leans her head back as she feels Aria's fingers tenderly gliding across her skin.

"And that's bad...?" Aria questions, not seeing Spencer's initial problem.

"It's an automatic death sentence because now that she knows about it, I'm going to be expected to join. If I don't, I'll never hear the end of it."

"So are you going to do it?"

"I dunno, I haven't looked at the packet yet." Spencer huffs out, crossing her arms, "Probably some forms and political bullshit."

"Well, whatever you do, you have my full support," Aria smiles and leans her forehead against the back of Spencer's head before she gives a kiss to the side of her neck.

Feeling relieved by Aria's words and affection when she needed it, she stops for a moments and turns her head to the side, looking at Aria from the corner of her eye, "Were...Are you drawing on me?"

Aria slowly leans back as she puts the cap back onto her felt tip marker, looking at the tiny drawing of the heart eye emoji on Spencer's neck. "... _No_..."

...

Spencer leans forward against the kitchen bar when she reads the first paper stuffed into the folder. Going over the wants and need of three branches that make up the association, Spencer begins to feel tense. That is, before she felt Aria's small arms wrap around her from behind, allowing her to relax herself just a little bit more.

"You know I called Mackenzie and Alexandria and they should be knocking at any moment."

"Ugh, Alexandria sounds too much like Veronica." Spencer grimaces with her eyes closed before she turns her head to the side, "You know, if you listen quietly enough, you can hear souls burning in the depths of hell when you say her name."

Aria cocks her head back with her eyebrows punched, " _Veronica_?"

"Damn you, Aria." Spencer breathes out with a hiss, "Don't you have any respect for the dead?"

Aria giggles as she snuggles into Spencer's back, grasping her tighter, "Maybe Alexandria is a spy. Maybe Mr. H is in on it and that's why he paired us." Aria lowers her voice with a smirk Spencer is able to detect without even looking at her, "Maybe I was sent to get information for your mother..."

Spencer tightens her face with an amused look as she turns around to face Aria, "Well...looks like you got more than you bargained for."

"I did _but_...I think I want more..." Aria slyly smiles before she reaches up and gives Spencer a kiss. Without seconds to waste, Aria grabs the reigns and pulls in Spencer closer, her lips hungrily grasping onto Spencer's before the taller brunette pushes Aria away with a grasp at both arms.

" _Uhmmm_..." Spencer's mutters with her eyes closed before they flicker open to find a confused Aria, "I'm sorry but the thought of my mother ruminating through my head while your tongue is in my mouth isn't turning me on..." Spencer let's go of Aria and turns back around to see the folder again, "It makes me want to weep. Weep _sorrowful_ tears."

Sighing out, Aria playfully shoves Spencer before she walks over to the kitchen, "Well, if you're going to be crying, stuff a sock in it, would you? That way your blubbering won't distract me from my studying and reading."

"I always knew that I could depend on you emotionally." Spencer responds through narrowed eyes and a slight curl at the corner of her lips. Aria gives a wide cheesy grin before knocks sounds at the door.

Walking over to the front with Spencer following behind her, Aria unlocks their door and opens it to find Alexandria standing on the other side: A tall, medium-olive toned girl with thick dark plum hair falling in loose curls over her shoulder, buttoned up from the brisk cold outside. Upon seeing her overall appearance, her eyes are the first that catches Aria and Spencer's attention as they sit medium-sized with big, intense amber irises that greet them before her mouth does.

" _Hello_." She smiles at both brunettes on the other side through her honeyed voice.

"Hey, Veronica- _Uh_! _Alexandria_!" Aria corrects herself as she steps to the side, allowing the guest in. Standing behind Aria, Spencer silently screams in agony, mocking a tortured soul before Aria elbows her in side right as Alexandria turns back around to face the two.

"So, uhm, is Mackenzie coming?"

"Yeah, he should be on his way," Aria moves behind Spencer and locks the front door.

"Good because I had text him but I don't think he got it." Alexandria answers as she unbuttons her coat. Seeing her undress, Spencer extends her hand to receive her coat to hang up by the door.

Aria asks as crosses her arms, "Do you know him by any chance?" She asks in hopes of an ice breaker for a conversation.

"Uhm yeah, we're friends..." Alexandria hesitates as she hoists her bag higher on her shoulder, "And he's my ex." Aria and Spencer eyebrows shoot up their foreheads in surprise at the information, " _Oh_ , but it's no problem. We are still really good friends." Alexandria quickly interjects, "We just didn't work as we thought romantically."

"Oh what happened?" Aria questions as Spencer walks over to the kitchen.

"Aria!" Spencer widens her eyes, advising Aria with a look, "Let's try not to pry into people's private lives, ok?"

"Oh no, it's ok." Alexandria shifts looks between Aria and Spencer with a raise of her palm, "If we're going to be partners throughout the semester, we might as well become friends, right?" The visitor shrugs with a hopeful smile.

" _Right_!" Aria gives Spencer a victorious smile before she goes back to her guest. She walks over to grab a seat at the couch and pats down at the cushion next to her, "Come join me, _friend_."

Alexandria laughs to herself as she makes her way to the other side of the couch, "We were best friends in the beginning for like three years. You know how the whole "mixed feelings" come into play? Well, we thought we could go into the whole relationship thing and we did. We dated for half a year but..." Alexandria slowly nods her head, "we then realized that we were better off as friends, you know?"

" _Woooow_." Aria intriguingly eyes Alexandria with a slight admiration in her voice, "I don't think I could turn back friends with a friend that decided to date while we were friends."

"Really?" Spencer arches an eyebrow as she lifts a bottle of water to her lips, "Why couldn't you turn back friends with a friend that you decided to date while you were friends?"

Keeping her sights on Alexandria and not Spencer internally smirking in the background, Aria sighs, "I mean…..I can't be platonic and all _buddy buddy_ with someone I used to speak in tongues with. Not to mention all the days and nights spent swapping spit and other bodily fluids-"

Before Aria was able to finish her sentence, Spencer sprays out her water everywhere in the kitchen, immediately causing both girls on the couch to shoot a look back: Alexandria with a worried look and a raise of her thick eyebrows and Aria with a smug expression. Spencer waves the girls down as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, "I'm…I'm okay, I just..." Spencer shuts up for talking any further and walks over to the counter to grab a paper towel to clean up her mess.

Aria shakes her head with amusement as she returns back to Alexandria, "Just ignore her. _Continue._ "

Alexandria awkwardly laughs as she turns back to Aria, "I mean, _yeah_ , you have that but we've worked all that out."

"You guys are so strong." Aria puts her hand on her chest admirably.

"Yeah, you could say that." She chuckles to herself, "So…" Alexandria rocks on the edge of the couch seat, "are you dating anyone or are you married to Spencer over there?"

"Wh-what? Huh?" Aria pinches her eyebrows and she shifts a look towards Spencer before turning back to Alexandria, "Married to Spencer how?"

"I meant if you guys are just bumming it together as BFFs," The group member reiterates, seeing that she caught Aria off-guard. "Living the single life."

" _Oh_. Uhmm-y-yeah. Yeah." Aria forces out a believable laugh, "We-we're bumming it. Best friends forever." She awkwardly smiles before she shoots a look back at Spencer whose eye's shift over to a non-suspecting Alexandria.

…

With another set of knocking on the door, Spencer unlocks it to find the last leg of their group.

"Hey. Sorry I came in late." Mackenzie steps into the dorm as he adjusts his laptop bag over his shoulder, "I was held up longer than expected."

"It's okay, no worries." Spencer responds as she locks the door behind him.

"Is Alexandra here already?"

"Yeah, she's actually in Aria's room right now, talking about whatever."

"Alright cool," Mackenzie takes a seat at their kitchen bar, removing the bag from over his shoulders and adjusts his black, over-sized glasses, "So what part of project are we planning on going over?"

"Oh, actually none right now." Spencer crosses her arms as she leans her side against the bar, "We thought it would be good to get to know each other before we start anything, you know?"

Mackenzie nods his head in agreement, "Yeah that makes sense. You can't work on art with people you're not 100% in tuned with."

"Exactly," Spencer turns around and walks into the kitchen towards one of the cabinets above, "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Whatever you got is good with me."

"You like tea?"

"Perfect," Mackenzie flashes a smile of comfortable.

Spencer grabs a glass and pours a cup of hot tea Aria made earlier before everyone arrived, "So what are you majoring in?"

"Engineering." Mackenzie folds his hands in front of him on top of the bar, "Specifically Robotics."

" _Oh_?" Spencer purses her lips in impressiveness, "Impressive choice there, Mr. Dillon"

The blond chuckles as he bows his head down, "Thank you. I try, I try. _And you_?"

"Legal Studies." Spencer sets down his glass of hot peach tea in front of him as she cups her own.

" _Okay_. Nice and strenuous, huh?"

"Yep. That's my life." Spencer replies as she nuzzles her lips around the brim of her glass.

"Well, hopefully Alex and my presence doesn't add to the load but only help relieve it." Mackenzie states after his swallows his sip of tea. He looks down at his glass with splendor, "Great tea, by the way."

Spencer smiles raising her glass in his direction, "Thanks, Aria made it. But you guys seem like the cool people so…I'm not the least bit worried."

" **Did I answer it wrong? I mean, how was I supposed to answer that question?"**

" **You didn't answer it wrong. It was fine."**

" **I'm assuming that we're…we're dating? Right? Because I don't sleep with just anyone, Spencer. Figuratively and literally."**

" **I didn't say you do, Aria."**

" **It's just that we never actually said that we are exclusive. We haven't even made it official."**

 **Aria and Spencer whisper in Spencer's room as Alexandria stepped outside in the hallway to answer a phone call. Getting caught with a simple question brings up the probable future problem for Spencer and Aria's relationship if they don't find a common solution.**

 _ **To come out or to not come out?**_

" **Are we something, Spencer?" Aria questions Spencer as she leans against her desk with her back, "Are we together?"**

" **Of course we are." Spencer confirms with an affirmative head nod, "You're the only person I'm interested in, the only person I'm seeing. I thought we made that abundantly clear a few nights ago."**

" **We did. I just wanted to hear you say it." Aria shrugs with a small smile, "But here's the next question…Do we make this public?"**

 **Spencer sighs as she chewed her lip slowly and ruminatively with her eyes fixed past Aria. "I…I want to keep this to ourselves for right now. I don't want everyone really knowing our business like that. Not yet."**

" **Okay…" A slowness overcame Aria's voice, "You're right anyways. The last thing we need is for people trying to mess things up between us." Spencer nods in agreement before Aria speaks up again, "But….but what do we say when someone asks our relationship status? That we're single…? Seeing someone…? It's complicated…?"**

" **No, not it's complicated." Spencer shakes her head as she runs a hand through her hair in thought, "We can say that we're single….but not looking. With that, that lets people know where we stand."**

" **If you think that's the best route…." Aria looks at Spencer with her face taking on a measured look as she nodded slowly to herself, "Sounds like a plan."**

x

 **Hmmm….Sparia secretively dating…?**

 **The next chapter will have a small time jump. Just enough to really get the train going.**

 **Say hello to Alexandria and Mackenzie, they will a good extra people for Sparia to lean on. Almost like the chain gang in Rosewood but since this is an AU and nobody really knows each other, the extra characters are different.** _ **But**_ **doesn't mean we won't see Sparia and Hannily together soon ;)**

 **I'm fleshing out the story a bit more for a new formula.**

 _ **More developments + More interactions = More cutesy scenes = More humor = Good story-line = Great work of Sparia fiction.**_

 **I think you guys will enjoy it :)**

 _ **Chapter 21: 3 weeks later….**_


	21. Chapter 21: Sparia Timeline

CHAPTER #21: Sparia Timeline

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

With the days flying by and the weather slowly increasing from the 30's into the 50's, the times are punched right in the middle of March. Assignments are now more thorough, exams are focusing on harder topics and the stress level are becoming just as high as everyone tries to keep their grades, social life, and their amount of sleep intact to a good balance. In regards to Spencer and Aria, they held their agreement with keeping their relationship status on the hush until they both feel ready. Although, Aria is a bit more closer to the edge than Spencer is, she respects Spencer's wishes because the matter of the subject is that they are both new to this. Coming out of relationships with their former boyfriends, the new scenery of being a relationship with another girl is different but couldn't more interesting since it's a secret after all. From the suggestive looks to the secretive quickies, they could both admit that maybe secret is good.

 **Walking past the lingering players as they leave the locker room, Aria checks her phone for the time.** _ **6:15pm**_ **Knowing that Spencer should be out of practice by now, she decided to swing by and pick her up so she can possibly treat her to something to eat. With her car parked outside and warmed up for the cold, Aria takes a look around the room to find nobody inside but a loud buzzing sound.**

 _ **Hmm.**_

 **Walking out of the locker room and down the quiet and concrete halls, Aria peeks into another room where she sees a couple females plugged into their phones working out. She opens the door and scans the area for her tall brunette only to not see her there either. Noticing a girl packing up her stuff, ready to leave, Aria politely stops her in hopes of her knowing Spencer.**

" **Hi, do you by any chance know a Spencer Hastings?"**

" **Yeah," The tired and hot blonde huffs out from her long workout, "She was here not too long ago."**

" **Would you know where she went?"**

" **Uhm….If she didn't leave, she would be in the locker room probably showering since we had a pretty intense training."**

" **Oh ok! Thank you!"**

" **Yeah, no problem."**

 **Aria makes her way out of the weight room and walks back to the locker room she once was in to have a more thorough search. She enters farther into the room where she sees Spencer packing things into her bag from a location she wasn't in a few minutes ago.**

" _ **There you are**_ **." Aria smiles as she walks towards the brunette dressed in her blue Penn jumpsuit.**

" **Hey," Spencer turns around surprised at Aria's presence, "What are you doing here?"**

" **I wanted to surprise you and pick you up," Aria wraps her arms around Spencer's neck and gives her a small kiss, "I was wondering if you wanted to go eat out someplace. The car is parked out front so you don't have to worry about walking anywhere."**

" **Well look who's being ever so thoughtful today," Spencer gives an appreciative smile as she cradles her hands on Aria's lower back.**

" **I always think of you." Aria coos as they both slowly sway side to side with her body pressed up against Spencer's.**

" **Oh, really?"**

" _ **Mmhmmm**_ **."**

 **Spencer tilts her head up as she looks down at Aria with a small smirk, "What do you think about when you think of me?"**

" **I think good things….funny things…." Aria eyes drift downwards as her fingers teased the nape of Spencer's neck, letting her tongue slide across the bottom of her lip, "…bad things…"**

" **How bad?"**

" _ **Really bad**_ **." Aria tilts her head to the side with a small whine in her voice, "Like for example, I can smell that you just took a shower."**

" **I did." Spencer nods as her hands carefully slides up and down the back of Aria's open black leather jacket, "Blow dried my hair and everything,"**

" **And that just makes me want to get you dirty all over again….messing up your freshly dried hair." Aria deviously smiles as her fingers crawl up into Spencer's hair with a small tug with the grip of the roots before slowly releasing it. "** _ **Those**_ **kind of bad things."**

 **Spencer presses her lips together as her eyes peel away from Aria's for a quick skim around to make sure nobody was in sight and that they were alone in the locker room. Because Spencer definitely wanted to be alone for what she was about to do next.**

… **...**

 **Spencer's movements were stealthy as she slipped into the storage room with her hand leading Aria. The smaller brunette does a swift double take of both directions before she walks into the dark, medium sized closet, silently closing the door behind her. Standing so close that she could feel the warmth of Aria's body backing into her, Spencer felt the sense of control leave her. She spins Aria around to face her and pulled her close, licking her lips before she kissed them. Her arms wrapped around the smaller brunette's body without hesitation, grabbing her ass and hoisting her up. Aria felt herself being spun around just before her back was pushed up against an open wall. Aria wraps her legs around Spencer's waist and moved her hips, grinding on her, sending Spencer into frenzy. Drawing her in tighter, Spencer's tongue searched out Aria's as her hands caressed over her thighs. Aria could feel Spencer's obvious hunger for her beginning to have an effect. Their tongues swirl around each other's with such sighing and moaning ever so softly that only they could hear each other. Dragging her lips down to Aria's jawline, still grinding her midsection against her, Aria's breathing starts to pick up an irregular pattern.**

 **"I want you, baby." Aria whispers into Spencer's ear, "I want you so bad right now." Knowing how much this would get her going, Aria slides her hand down the brunette's chest to unzip her jacket.**

 **An intense sense of a high makes Spencer put Aria back down on her feet and rip off her jacket before coming out of her own. The two immediately are drawn back into each other's embrace with fast but persistent kisses as Spencer glides her hand up Aria's shirt onto her chest. That raw, intense, super-buzzed feeling one gets when you know you could get caught at any moment but just feels too good to stop, Spencer and Aria press their luck in order to fulfill their boiling over desire for one another.**

 **"Man, I'm beat as FUCK!** _ **WHOOO**_ **!"**

 **Aria and Spencer immediately freeze in place as their heads snap in the direction on the storage door. With their quickened, hovered breathing and their bodies still pressed together, the two girls hear one female into the locker room.**

 **"Today's practice was a** _ **biiiitch**_ **."**

 _ **Make that two.**_

 **"Hey is that Spencer's stuff? Is she still here?**

 **"I don't know. She's probably around here somewhere."**

 **Standing there as possibly still as they can, Spencer wishes they had an invisibility cloak to shield them. However, staying as eerily quiet as possible was the second best move.**

 _ **Don't come into the supply closet.**_

 _ **Don't come into the supply closet.**_

 _ **Don't come into the supply closet.**_

 _ **Don't come into the supply closet.**_

" **Here. Toss these into the supply closet. It should be unlocked."**

 _ **Fuuuuuuuuck!**_

 **Aria and Spencer silently panic as they pull away from each other, picking up their jackets from the floor in the process. Being completely dark inside, Spencer tries to remember to the best of her abilities how the closet was set up so she could help them hide. Within an instant, she yanks Aria's arm in the direction of the back of the closet and pulls her down behind the large locker of lacrosse sticks with very limited space between the back of the locker and the wall. Staying as flat as they can be, being shielded by the locker, Aria presses the front of her body completely against Spencer's front just as the closet door swings opens. With the overhead light flicking on, exposing the whole closet, the two girls stop breathing as the one of Spencer's teammates throw some objects within a crate of other objects.**

 _ **Please go.**_

 _ **Please go.**_

 _ **Please go.**_

 _ **Please go.**_

 _ **Please go.**_

 _ **Please! Go**_ **!**

 **Finishing what was needed to do, the lights turn off again and the door slams shut with the teammate leaving.**

" **Hey, do you want to head over to the Starbucks real quick? I'm in the mood for a peppermint double chocolatey chip frap."**

" **Holy shit that was a mouthful to say."**

" **Haha! I know right!"**

 **Not daring to move, Spencer and Aria continue their silence until the voices fade out of the locker room and down the hallway. In the mist of safety, backing away from Spencer, Aria bends over with her hands on her knees as she catches her breath.**

" **That was** _ **way**_ **too close."**

" **Way** _ **too fucking close.**_ **" Spencer responds back as she runs her hand through her hair, trying to remember how to breathe. "Where….where did you say you wanted to go earlier?"**

" **Well, I wanted to go to the Chinese restaurant, Han Dynasty." Aria replies as she puts back on her jacket. "That's if you still wanted to go."**

" **Yeah, yeah. We-we can still go. Chinese is fine."**

Since their partnership decided in their Art class about a month ago, Mackenzie and Alexandria have been seeing the likes of Spencer and Aria more and more than originally planned. From an earlier perspective, the thought of the other group members were most likely going to be resulted in being around one another whenever an assignment or project was due. Other than that, Spencer and Aria would have thought that they would be mere acquaintances with the others. However, with their first project, the group found themselves together quite frequently until it was realized that Mackenzie and Alex would come over when there wasn't an assignment due but just to hang out. With the girls enjoying their company, all four college student have developed a tight knit group within the past weeks.

" **We should have like a group name where we mix all out names together." Aria comments aloud as everyone sits on the floor of the living room with pillows, cushions and blankets sprawled out for comfort. Along with everyone holding a plastic cup of coconut Cîroc mixed with red Gatorade to enjoy their night, "Spencer and I have a name like that already."**

" **What is it?" Alex asks as the back of her head is rested against the front of couch and her legs on Mackenzie's back as a foot rest.**

" **Sparia." Aria gushes with her eyes almost closed and her cup raised in the air.**

" _ **Aww**_ **! That sounds so adorable." Alex's face lights up with a grin, "** _ **Sparia…**_ **.We need one like that." The brunette wiggles her legs to get Mackenzie's attention.**

" **Already got it." Mackenzie lifts his head up, creating suspense in the room to unveil his creation, "…** _ **Kendrix**_ **."**

" _ **Ooooh**_ **," Spencer and Aria both nod their head in approval as Aria rests her head on Spencer's shoulders.**

" **That's actually cute!" Alex accepts with a laugh, "Team Kendrix!"**

" **Sounds better than my first thought….Kenlex." Mackenzie chuckles as he raises his head to take a mouthful out of his cup.**

" **That's way too close to Kleenex, the tissues." Spencer whispers loudly to Aria, making Mackenzie almost spit out his drink and everyone one else roar out a laughter in unison.**

" **Ok, what would everyone's names combine too?" Alex asks as her laughter dwindles down, "We all have pretty long names."**

" **Except Aria's whose length goes with her height." Mackenzie and Alex crack up in laughter as Aria slaps Spencer's arm, making the tipsy brunette giggle to herself.**

" **What about** **Spenkenalria?" Alex suggests.**

" **By the time we try to pronounce that, we'll all be dead." Aria frowns as she readjusts her sitting position with the pillow underneath her,** **"Let's just use the first letter of our first name."**

" _ **AMAS"**_

" _ **SAMA"**_

" _ **AASM"**_

" _ **ASAM"**_

" _ **MASA"**_

" **Yeah…" Aria brings her cups to her lips as everyone spits out an idea of a group name, "That's gonna need some work."**

" **I just want to know, Mackenzie," Spencer starts up as she slowly rises to her feet, "what should we call you? Because your name is so long. Do you want be called** _ **Mac**_ **?** _ **Ken**_ **?** _ **Z**_ **? There are so many different options."**

" **I mean Ken is fine." Mackenzie responds, looking up at Spencer walk towards the kitchen.**

" **No wait. I got it…" Aria holds up a finger as she closes her eyes. "Mickey D's."**

 **Spencer turns around in surprise with a snap and a finger point at the group, agreeing with Aria's suggestion. "** _ **Mickey D's**_ **!"**

" **Your name is Mac which is almost like Mc and your last name is Dillon with a D." Aria explains with a sense of boastfulness at the quick thinking, "Mickey D's."**

" **Woah, that is actually creative. I've never heard of a nickname like that." Alexandria leans over towards Aria raises a toasts, bumping both their cups together.**

" **Look at all the creativity flowing out of you, Aria." Mackenzie reaches for an unused pillow, "Maybe you should drink more so you can actually contribute to our assignments." He laughs as he chucks the pillow at Aria, causing the drunk group to burst out into hysterics again.**

Being with Ken and Alex for as frequent as they are, Spencer and Aria felt that they were trust-worthy people enough and if anyone should know about them, it should be Ken and Alex. With the major potentials of slip ups, they would rather tell them upfront instead of being walked in on by accident.

 _Which almost happened once…_

 _ **Knock! Knock!**_

 **Aria and Spencer immediately pull away from each other with startled looks at the door.**

" **Aria?" Mackenzie's voice sounds from behind the door,**

" **Just a minute!" Aria tries to calmly call out as she fumbles to get from under Spencer. "You have to hide!" Aria whispers as Spencer jumps off of Aria and frantically buttons her shirt.**

" _ **Hide**_ **?" Spencer whispers back, "** _ **Why**_ **-where am I gonna go?"**

" **Just…!" Aria frenziedly looks around in her small room before she looks back at the bed and pulls up the covers, "Hide under here!"**

" **Aria, I'm not hiding-"**

" **Just go!" Aria pushes Spencer into her bed with Spencer reluctant to get in at first. With no time, Spencer lays under the sheets as Aria covers her. Aria fixes her clothes with a quick run through of her hair before she puts pillows around Spencer. Trying to look as natural as possible, Aria makes the quick decision to sit on top of Spencer, causing the buried brunette to cough out a groan. "Come in!"**

 **Mackenzie opens the door to find Aria looking up from her phone, sitting with her legs crossed and pulled into her. "So with the assignment, do you think it'll be better to go with a PowerPoint or a video because we can do either or." He asks with his head poked out from behind the door, "I just think if we incorporate it as a video, it'll be more fluid and to the point."**

" **Yeah, sure." Aria smiles with a head nod, "Video is fine."**

" **Okay, good. I tried to ask Spencer but…" Mackenzie takes a quick look behind him into the hallway before looking back at Aria, "I think she stepped out for a second."**

" **Oh, yeah. She should be back then." Aria assures him with the way of her hand.**

" **Alright," Mackenzie goes to close the door with Aria breathing out a sigh of relief before he opens it again making Aria quickly recover back into position, "** _ **Oh**_ **and you guys are out of pizza rolls."**

 **Aria forces another smile, "Oh okay, thanks."**

" **Welcome."**

 **With the door being closed and a few seconds of stillness, Spencer pushes her out of the burial of sheets as Aria hops off of her, breathing out fresh air, "Those was** _ **my pizza rolls**_ **!"**

So, in order to prevent the sneaking from going bad, they just decided to rip off the Band-Aid with the only way they know how.

" **So we're just going to come out and say this." Aria grasps her hands together as she takes in a deep breath, "Spencer and I are not only roommates….and best friends but…we are also** _ **together**_ **." Aria and Spencer stand side by side in the front of their living room with Alex and Ken sitting down. After a few seconds of silence, the two sitting down exchange brief looks before they start to snicker, trying to hold in their laughter.**

 **Spencer narrows her eyes at their reaction with a raised eyebrow, "Why are you guys laughing?"**

" **We already kinda knew." Mackenzie glances at Alex with a head nod, "Well, Alex guessed it and told me and from then on we were just trying to pick up on the subtle signs."**

 **Aria and Spencer mirror each other in crossing their arms as Aria gasps in amazement yet confusion, "Wait, how did you guys know?"**

" **I mean it was pretty evident sometimes. But if we want to be technical, Spencer pretty much gave it away." Alex flicks her eyebrow at Spencer who gives her an unsure look back.**

" **How did** _ **I**_ **give it away?"**

" **With those times when I would try to hook Aria up with someone, your face would just** _ **flare**_ **with jealously." Alex smirks as she leaned forward off her seat, "Remember Nick?"**

" **Ok, that doesn't count, Nick was an ass." Spencer uncrosses her arms with a roll of her eyes, "Even if I wasn't dating Aria, I still wouldn't have approved."**

" _ **Awww**_ **!" Aria turns to Spencer with her face light up in admiration, "You were jealous?"**

" **No, Aria." Spencer shakes her head with another eye roll, dismissing whatever accusation that was brought against her.**

" **That is** _ **so**_ **cute!" Aria latches onto Spencer's arm like a child as she nuzzles the side of her face on Spencer's long sleeve sweater.**

" **So who else knows about this?" Mackenzie curiously questions, "Just us?"**

" **Yep. Just you two." Spencer responds she Aria continues to hold tight onto her, "And that's kinda where it should stay until we're ready to go public."**

" **Safe with me."**

" **Yeah, you don't have to worry about anything."**

" **Thanks guys." Aria gives a warm smile as Mackenzie rises off the couch, walks up to the girls and stands behind them, wrapping his arms around them in a tight squeeze as he gives a wide grin.**

" _ **My little Sparia**_ **!"**

Although the secret has expanded from two to four, taking their words, Aria and Spencer don't stress the fact that it'll get out unless it's done on their own time. Along with the social aspect of their life, Spencer goes on to deal with the academic portion as the offer of Penn GPA hangs over her like a cloud. Seeing that the details aren't as invasive as she originally thought, knowing how she was approached to be a part of the tight knit university club, she knew that she would never hear the end of it from her parents let alone Dr. Addison whenever she sees her on campus. After talking to Aria over it, understanding how it could help her in the future along with mapping out her current schedule, Spencer goes on to fill out the forms and turn them into the advisor for a seat on the _Penn Political Union_ of the largest and most potent political group on campus. However, Spencer Hastings wouldn't be Spencer Hastings if she wasn't on Honors, in clubs _and_ sports. Practicing nearly every day for about 3 hours along with working out with the team, Spencer has gained a respectable spot on the team as a third home. Not exactly the position she's used too but she's working her way into being a better player to get the better positions she believe she's meant for.

 **Already having a couple games under her belt, Spencer's team held an undefeated winning streak with 4-0. With their second home game against Georgetown University at 4pm inside of the Franklin Field, Spencer ties her hair into a high ponytail as she takes a quick look at her phone clock.**

 _ **2:50pm**_

 **Knowing that she needs to be with the team by 3:30pm, Spencer calls out Aria's name while she walks over to her room where all her things are placed up in her blue, black and white Adidas sports bag. "Aria, I'm about to leave! Either you're ready and leave with me now or you just come at 4!"**

 **Standing at the doorframe, oblivious to Spencer, Aria takes a long look at Spencer's uniform attire. Wearing her white short-sleeve top that reads "PENN" in large red letters along with the number 34 underneath, Spencer also wears a white long sleeve under-amour to help her with the brisk cold. Going down to her bottoms, she wears a small white Penn kilt with black under amour shorts underneath, finishing off with her white and red crew socks and her white and grey Warrior Low cleats.**

" **Looks like you're wearing the socks I brought you, huh?" Spencer turns her head in the direction of her door to see Aria fully dressed, leaning against the door frame with a sly smile.**

" **Yeah," Spencer goes back to her bag as she makes sure everything is in order, "I have a good feeling about this game so I'm wearing it for good luck."**

" **So I'm your winning charm?"**

" **Mhmmm. Only if I win today."**

" **Well, let's make sure you win today…" Spencer feels Aria's fingers carefully touch her thigh. Not catching onto Aria's subtle prowl, Spencer spins around to face the brunette.**

" **No, Aria." She pushes the smaller brunette's hand away, "Not now. I have to leave."**

" **You can't leave without your good luck charm." Aria purrs as she throws both arms around Spencer's neck.**

 **Spencer groans as she removes Aria from her once again, "I have on the socks. That's my good luck. But if you keep messing around, I get to the game late, and we lose, you're going to be my bad luck."**

" **No, I'm your good luck." Aria continues to push on with sultriness in her voice. Trained on Spencer, Aria's eyes were glazed over as if she was drunk, however, the mood she was in was taking over and darkened her with pure lust. "Me,** _ **Aria Montgomery**_ **, I'm your good luck." She pushes Spencer onto her bed on her back before Aria crawls on top like a mountain lion targeting its prey. "Now if you just be a good girl, you will get all the luck you need for this game." Aria pulls the dangling stand of hair behind her ear before she leans down to kiss Spencer.**

" **I'm going to be late, Aria." Spencer mutters out between Aria's kisses as she feels her defenses weakening.**

 **Aria pulls away from Spencer as she hovers above her, "It'll only take 10 minutes." She whispers gently as she runs a finger down Spencer's chest, "I won't even mess up your precious little uniform." Aria bends back down to place soft kisses on Spencer's neck as Spencer tries to time everything in her head. With every passing second of Spencer's willpower diminishing, Spencer ultimately caves in.**

" **Alright.** _ **Ten minutes**_ **. That's it."**

" **That's all I need." Aria growls into Spencer's ear before she pins both of Spencer's hands down into the bed, dipping her tongue to trace Spencer's lips.**

…

 **Finding Alexandria and Mackenzie sitting in the middle of the student's home section, surrounded by roughly 100 people, Aria makes her way past the mixed, tight yet supportive crowd with a can of Mountain Dew in one hand and a plastic box of nachos drizzled in cheese in the other just after the singing of the national anthem was sung.**

" **Hey, what took you so long? We've been waiting here for you since before four." Mackenzie asks, taking a nacho chip as Aria walks past him to the open seat on the right of Alex.**

" **Yeah, why didn't you answer my texts? I asked you if you could pick me up some skittles while you were down there," Alex questions as well.**

" **I didn't want to leave without getting something to eat," Aria keeps a straight face as she puts the nachos on her lap and cracks open her soda, "Unfortunately, my appetite wasn't fully satisfied since I only had ten minutes before I had to leave." The brunette informs her two amigos as she raises the drink to her mouth.**

" **What did you eat?" Mackenzie leans forward with his head tilted at Aria. Aria chokes on her soda a bit as she puts her hand over her mouth to prevent anything coming out. Surrounding game-watchers turn their heads at Aria as she quickly redeems herself. "Wait, what did I say?" Mackenzie confusedly turns to Alex in wondering why Aria reacted the way she did.**

 **Aria wipes off her jacket as she tries her hardest not to laugh out loud at everyone's concerned faces, "I'm okay, I just…swallowed too fast." Aria looks out into the field to see everyone setting up for the first draw of the game, "Hey look, it's about to start," Aria points out in front of her to change the subject, "Let's go, Penn! Whooo!"**

…

 **With the timer hitting 0:00, the Penn girls celebrate their win as the supporters rise to their feet, celebrating in the stands as well.**

 **Waiting for Spencer by the exit of the field after she was done with her team, all three friends congratulate Spencer on yet another win as Aria jumps up into her arms.**

" **I told you I'm your good luck charm," Aria whispers in Spencer's ears as she disguises it as a celebratory hug.**

With the constant support from Aria and her new two set of friends, Spencer stress level lowers more and more knowing that her handle of things aren't so bad. Well… _Since she's controlling it._

…..

Sitting on Aria's bed, Spencer attends to her computer screen as Aria paces back and forth in thought.

"Thelma and Louise?"

"No."

"Morello and Nicky from Orange is the New Black."

"No."

Aria snaps her fingers with a lightbulb moment, "Kelly Kapowski and Jessie Spano from Saved by the Bell!"

"No, Aria." Spencer shoots down Aria's suggestion without even looking up from her computer screen.

"Why not?!" Aria whines as she throws herself face down on the bed next to Spencer, "It's perfect. I'm Kelly and you're Jessie!"

"Because I don't want to dress up as them."

" _C'mon_. We would totally be like them if we were back in the 80's."

"But we're not in the 80's so no."

Aria groans as Spencer continues to type away at her keyboard. Getting invited by one of her fellow peers in her Western English class, Aria tries to come up with an idea for a costume for her and Spencer to go together with. Seeing the theme " _Couple of Pairs_ Party", Party-goers in pairs, whether dating or just friends, must come in costume with a pair of their liking. It could be as realistic or as wild as long as it's in good taste. Getting shut down with every direction, Aria tries to rack her brain with a sensible idea for the Friday night.

"Why are you being so difficult with this?" Aria questions as she rests her head on the palm of her hand being held up by her elbow.

"Because I'm not interested in any of those pairings." Spencer sighs out nonchalantly.

After a moment of pure silence, a daring idea pops into Aria's head that make her widely grin in mischief. "I know _exactly_ who we're going as and you're not going to say no to this one."

"Wanna watch me say it anyways?"

"Look at me, Spencer." Aria demands, causing Spencer to peel her eyes away to look at the brunette nodding in complete cunning notion with her smile wide. "I'm going as Hugh Hefner and you're going as a Playboy Bunny."

" _HELL. NO._ " Spencer leans into Aria with seriousness ruminating in her voice and her face, "How the hell did you jump from Saved by the Bell to Playboy?!"

"Because that's who we are going as on Friday night. Hefner and one of his girls."

" _Aria_ , I don't know if the gerbil in your head is working in overtime, therefore not allowing to think clearly but _no_." Spencer sternly points at Aria with her eyebrows pinched as Aria continues to look on with a smile. "There is no way on God's green beautiful yet sinful earth am I dressing up as a playboy bunny. At a party. With people I don't know. Half naked. You must be out of your sex-crazed mind."

….

"I just want to say Playboy is unbearably oppressive to women by treating them like objects and adds to the narrative of rape culture and misogyny."

"Spencer, _shut up_." Aria responds to the brunette out of the left side of her mouth as she holds in a pipe in the right, crouching down besides Spencer in a pose for the camera.

"This is fucking golden." Alex laughs as she takes the picture of the couple before she walks over and shows them. There you have Spencer sporting her hair out in long curls with a black and white bowtie around her neck along with a strapped black corset top. Underneath her black leather shorts, matte black stockings covering her legs with the finishing touches of white cuffs, black bunny ears and black and gold 3" heels so she won't tower over her Aria.

And then you have the next pair, Aria, wearing a white captain navy hat on top of her high ponytail along with a silk black and gold smoking robe that stops mid-thigh resting over her black skinnies and black and gold loafers. Wearing her Michael Kors gold watch on her right hand along with a couple rings, Aria poses crouched down next to a backwards modeled Spencer. She squeezes under the crease of Spencer's ass with a smug, conceited look for the camera with a signature pipe sticking out of her mouth.

"Oh my gosh! YES!" Aria jumps up and down excitedly at her small photoshoot, "Send that to me right now."

Spencer takes a peak over at Alex's phone to see the fantastic shot Aria is raving about. Actually liking her serious model-like face along with Aria cocky look, Spencer laughs as she gives the phone back to Alex, "Yeah, send that to me too."

"Let's take another because we look too damn sexy tonight." Aria brags as she stands back in place with Spencer. "Here, let's stand side by side this time." Standing on the left side of Aria with one arm around her shoulder and Aria's hand palming her ass, Spencer crouches down a bit to rests the side of her face next to Aria's face as Aria takes in a breath and holds the pipe in her free hand, slowly letting the smoke leave her mouth.

"Oh shit! That's real?!" Mackenzie gasps in surprise as Alex takes the picture. "I thought that was a fake wooden pipe!"

"Na uh," Aria smiles as she smacks her lips, "This is a vape pipe with a nicely flavored juice."

"Since when did you buy that?" Spencer looks at Aria out of pure shock.

"Since when I knew I was going to be _Hugh Hefner_! See, try it!" Aria passes the pipe to Spencer who waves it down.

"No thanks."

"What-you don't trust me?"

Spencer looks at Aria whose eyes are twinkling with confidence but also hopefulness that Spencer wouldn't think of her that way. "It's not that I don't trust you…" Spencer sighs, "I'm just not into that."

"Just try _one_ take and tell me how you feel about it. It doesn't have nicotine or anything so you're fine." Aria keeps on in a playful manner, gently pushing her.

"Fine…" Spencer takes the pipe of out Aria's hand and brings it up to eye level so she could see how it worked, "What do I do?"

"When you press the button, the coil inside heats up the oil and allows you to inhale." Aria points to the mid part of the pipe.

"Press this button and inhale at the same time?"

"Mhmmm. Then you let go when you're finished." Aria instructs as she carefully watches Spencer's facial expression. Spencer nods as she raises the nozzle to her mouth, thinking to herself before she puts the nozzle to her mouth and sucks in the vapor for about three seconds. Not fully inhaling the smoke into her lungs but only housed in her mouth, Spencer blows out the smoke before she starts smacking her lips with a squint in her eyes.

"What?" Aria gazes at Spencer with a faint smile on her lips.

Grabbing the taste she thought she tasted, Spencer's eyes widen as she quickly looks at the pipe. " _No way_. This….this…" She turns to look Aria who is trying to hold her grin back, "This taste just like Cinnamon rolls!"

" _Uh-Huh_ …"

"Like…." Spencer smacks her lips some more, running her tongue on her top lip, "I can actually taste the sweet roll when I inhale and a cinnamon taste when I exhale." Spencer smile turns big like she just discovered Utopia, laughing in astonishment, "It seriously tastes like a Cinnamon roll!" Aria nods her head with a pleased smile as Spencer looks back at the pipe in her hands.

"Let me try it!" Mackenzie excitedly jumps at hearing Spencer's reaction.

"You guys are _too fucking cute_!" Alex gushes as she brings down her phone, taking a video and pictures of the whole experience. "I'm about to die in sexiness overload."

Spencer takes another inhale before passing Aria's pipe to an eager Mackenzie.

"That reminds me," Aria looks at Mackenzie up and down as he takes a huff before giving it back, "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"We're Donnie and Debbie from the Wild Thornberrys." Alex informs as she gives a flip to her thick and wavy, natural looking blonde wig.

" _Oooooh_!" Aria snaps in revelation at the pairs' matching idea, "I thought Ken was Tarzan and you were…someone I couldn't put my finger on."

"Nope. I originally wanted to go as Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas from Desperado but he kept pitching a fit about it. We could have looked as hot and sexy as you two but noooo, _'I look nowhere near Spanish nor do I look like Antonio Banderas'_ he cries out." Alex mocks with a roll of her eyes. Rocking the blonde waves and dark grunge makeup, wearing headphones around her neck with an open and oversized plaid green shirt over her small orange crop top, Alex has on distressed baggy jeans cuffed at the bottom over her black Steve Madden combat boots. As her partner, Mackenzie's only article of clothing is a long animal print shorts and scandals with his normally clean hair rugged and wild. "Thankfully I can pull off blonde." Alex brags, "Debbie Thornberry with a minor ethnic twist."

"You guys still look cute," Spencer comments out, applauding their outfit dedication.

"You should have done Esmeralda." Aria points out to Alex, "That's someone you probably could have pulled off very well."

" _Uhm_!" Mackenzie interjects with his eyebrows pinched at the girls, "And who was I supposed to be? Hunchback of Notre Dame?"

Aria cracks up in laughter as she finds Mackenzie's disgusted face to be hilarious, "You could have if you wanted to."

"Luckily, I can play the stereotypical 90's teen very well." Alex explains before she relaxes her expression into a resting bitch face with her eyes lowered in non-caring attitude, "C'mon, _Donnie_." She calls out in her version of a Californian accent behind her deepened and husked vocals, "We're going to be late for the party."

Mackenzie begins to incoherently babble with his tongue wildly hanging out as he impersonates his character. He hobbles over like a monkey towards Aria and snatches her sailor hat, putting it on his head before leaping on top of the couch, " _To the seas of Australia_!" Mackenzie shields his eyes with his hand and sticks out his chest like a captain manning his ship.

"Perfect," Spencer laughs at Mackenzie's spot on impression, "We have Hugh Hefner and his playmate along with Debbie with her monkey brother."

Mackenzie springs off the couch onto the floor as he crawls around with back hunched over and tongue out. He continues to babble in ramblings as he scouts towards Aria and Spencer. He takes a wonder around the girls one time before he stops at Spencer. Tilting his head to the side with his brows furrowed, Mackenzie curiously smacks Spencer's butt before he exclaims and quickly retreats backwards.

"Ok, no." Spencer wags a finger at Mackenzie as if he was a disobedient dog, "Bad monkey boy. _Bad_."

" _Hey_ , if you want a smack, that'll $10." Aria bites on the mouthpiece of her pipe, letting it hang from her mouth. Spencer shoots her a confused look which only causes Aria to shrug in response, " _What_? Time is money. I can't have people smacking your ass for free."

"Oh god. I just became a prostitute." Spencer groans out, making all three other friends to laugh out.

"Alright, selfie time!" Alex unlocks her phone and clicks her camera app, lifting her phone in the air, "Let's take some pictures before we leave!"

 **Who knew so many things could happen in 3 weeks.**

 **Sneaking around, winning games, making new friends, coming out to the friends, quickies, and now a costume party as Hugh Hefner, a Playmate, and Debbie and Donnie Thornberry.**

 **Brilliance, wouldn't you say?**

 **I wonder what holds in store for them next?**


	22. Chapter 22: High-Energy, High-Octane

**So sorry about the messed up update you guys got earlier. Some freakish thing happened and the chapter was messed up: formatting was off, chunks of words disappeared. I had to rewrite the entire chapter. Yes, IT WAS A PAIN AND YES I CRIED.**

 **But to make it up, I made this chapter longer for you guys :)**

 **I've been asked to do a Different Gazes fancast for this story by a reader :D**

 **Pretty much, if this were a show or movie, who would be best to play what characters.**

 _ **Weeeell**_ **, for my original characters, I kind of fleshed out what they looked like in my head so I had to go through some tough deliberation (And I mean tuff) for what actor/actresses would take those roles. But! Here we are, the characters that you have/will be seeing throughout this story. Something for you to visualize while you read the story if you're a visual kind of person :)**

 _ **Spencer Hastings: Troian Bellisario**_

 _ **Aria Montgomery: Lucy Hale**_

 _ **Noel Kahn: Brant Daugherty**_

 _ **Wren Kingston:**_ _ **Julian Morris**_

 _ **Mackenzie Dillon:**_ _ **Lucas Medeiros**_

 _ **Alexandria Sands: Jessica Lucas**_

 _ **Dr. Hasleberger: Christopher Lee**_

 _ **Dr. Addison: Helen Mirren**_

 **Well, there you go. However, I cannot give you the** _ **full**_ **lineup just yet because that could possibly give away some things for the future :O**

 **Anyways, here goes your next installment :)**

CHAPTER #22: High-Energy, High-Octane

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Blending into the scene of the fraternity party Aria brought the group to, everyone is thoroughly enjoying themselves. Mingling with other students, talking about each other's outfits and their pairs, partaking in the taking of pictures and having a good overall time, Spencer finds Alex inside the kitchen of the house grabbing herself a drink.

"Hey, have you seen Aria?" Spencer approaches Alex, "So many tall people, I feel like I lost my child."

Looking around her surroundings, checking out every person trying to see if she can lay her eyes on Aria from where she's standing, Alex scopes out the crowd until she sees a small group of girls in the far corner of the living room. "I think I found her," Alex nods in the direction of the small brunette.

Spencer looks in Alex's said path and sees three girls dressed in a similar playboy attire as her, surrounding Aria for what it seems a picture. "Hold my drink?" Spencer hands over her cup to Alex and leaves before she could respond back.

"Uhm-ok," Alex talks to the air that Spencer once stood in, not knowing what to do, "Don't worry, I'll...I'll be here...I guess…"

Making her way past the crowd, Spencer walks towards Aria as another playboy bunny sees and greets her. " _Hey_! Another bunny!" The girl smiles as she waves over Spencer with her and the two other girls getting in position around Aria for a photo, "Come! Take a picture with us!"

"Yeah, Zachary was our original Hugh Hefner but Aria here is _much more cuter_." Another one of the bunnies laugh out a remark aloud as she playfully wraps her arm around Aria's side, getting into a comfortable picture-taking position. The other girls agree as surrounding people around them take pictures of the four girls.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hefner is on a break." Spencer forces a smile to the girls before she grabs Aria's free hand and pulls her away from the group.

"It was nice meeting you guys!" Aria calls back to the girls as Spencer drags Aria to the kitchen corner where it was less-noisy and crowded. Spencer grabs her drink from Alex still awaiting her return, allowing her to leave back into the party before Spencer turns back to Aria.

"What are you doing?"

"I was taking some selfies and pictures?" Aria returns the question with a question.

" _Uhm no_. You're not allowed to wonder off yet alone take pictures with the likes of _them_." Spencer crosses her arms in front of her as she looks back at the girls laughing on top of other party-goers.

" _Likes of them?_ " Aria responds with a small smile easing its way onto her face as with a tilt of her head, "Is someone being jealous...?"

Spencer pinches her brows and narrows her eyes at Aria with the accusation presented in front of her, "No, I'm not jealous. I just don't want you around those girls. I mean look at them," Spencer turns to look at the girls Aria were once surrounded by, "I'm more covered up than they are and we're wearing the same thing. And plus one of them were _way_ too touchy feel for just a picture."

" _Mhmmm_ …" Aria smirks as she steps closer to Spencer, hearing exactly what she's saying,  
"That's the talk of jealousy, babe...and it sounds _so_ sexy." Aria sucks in her bottom lip as she grips Spencer's ass. Instantly, Spencer moves Aria's hand away from the direct PDA. Aria sighs as she adjusts her hat, " _Well_ , wherever you go, I'll be right behind you. No selfies with other bunnies." Aria lifts up her hands, "Promise." Spencer gives Aria back a soft smile who gives her a wide smile in response. Aria takes Spencer's drink out of her hand and leads her out of the kitchen, drinking out of her cup to continue on with their night.

…

Partying for another hour at the frat house, Aria gets a call and disappears to step outside, leaving Spencer by herself for a moment. Standing by a window in the corner of a dim living area, looking at the people interacting outside in the snow, it doesn't take long before Spencer's loneness is taken as an opportunity for conversation.

"Hey, little Miss. Bunny," A guy wearing a blue correctional officer uniform with his hand on his belt approaches Spencer as his brows raise above his sunglasses, "How are you this fine night?

Spencer looks at the young male before she chuckles, rolling her eyes back towards the window, "Officer Mendez, huh?"

"The one and only in the flesh," The guy strokes his mustache before he rests his hands back on his belt, standing with his feet shoulder width apart in a dominate stance.

"Nice." Spencer nods, not moving her eyes from the window.

"I could say the same about you." Spencer shifts in her standing position as she becomes uncomfortable with the random stranger checking her out. "So _uh_..." The officer steps in closer to the brunette, "what kind of playboy bunny are you? The good girl or the _naughty_ one?"

"Excuse you?" Spencer snaps her head in his direction with the last bit of friendliness leaving her with his way of a ' _conversation'_.

"You don't even have to tell me. Just by looking at you…" The guy looks at Spencer from her heels all the way up to her bunny ears, taking in every piece of detail of her outfit, excluding her pissed off face, "I'm gonna guess you're a good girl who does naughty things behind closed doors."

"Fuck you," Spencer gives the party-goer a look of disgust before she proceeds to walk away from him. Brushing her shoulder against his as she bypasses him, he reaches out and grabs her wrist.

"I've might have been off but there is no need to get vulgar with me, princess."

"Get off me, you bastard." Spencer yanks out of his tight grip, becoming even more irritable at his boldness to put his hands on her.

" _Relax_. We're just having some fun." The guy rises his sunglasses to the top of his head, showcasing his green eyes along with a smile, "Don't you like a little fun?"

"No, she doesn't...but I do. I like having a lot of fun." A voice sounds from behind the young male before Spencer had the time to speak for herself. All eyes shift to the person as the guy turns around to see who the voice belonged to. "Like for example, if you put your hands on her again, I'm going to kick your balls up into the lining of your small intestines making you piss blood for the next month. Doesn't that sound like fun to you? Because it sounds like a fucking trip to Disney World to me."

" _Shit, chill_." He grimaced with his eyes, "I'm just trying to have a good time, damn."

"Well, why don't you get yourself a Kleenex and some Aveeno and go knock yourself the fuck out." Aria gave him a mocking smile with eyes that burned with seriousness. The young male glared at her before he walks away.

"Dumbass…" Aria whispers as he sidesteps her to another crowd of people to converse with.

"Look at my knight and shining armor strolling in to protect me." Spencer walks towards Aria who still has her eyes on the officer.

"That guy is a jackass." Aria shakes her head in loathing, "Typical frat boy."

"Who knew at 3 feet you could be so... _intimidating_?"

Aria turns her head back to Spencer, "Because I turn into a lion to protect what's mines." Aria lets out a small yawn from behind her hand, "But this lion wants to go back home. I think Hugh Hefner had hu-enough of tonight."

"Sounds like a great idea. I just want to come out of this outfit." Spencer looks around at the party still going strong with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

"Oh, don't you worry. You will."

….

Getting the gang together to head out for the night, all three girls stand outside of the house with Spencer ahead of Aria, jumping on top of Alex who gives her a piggy-back ride to the car because of her feet. Waiting for Mackenzie to exit the house, Aria stands on the porch stairs with her hands in her pockets until she sees The Wild Thornberry character emerge.

"Hey, Ken. We're going to turn it in for the night."

"Yeah-yeah same." Mackenzie nods his head as he crosses his arms across his bare chest from the breeze, "I'm going back to my dorm, catching a ride from a friend."

"Alright. I'll talk to you tomorrow then." Aria steps in for a hug when Mackenzie pulls her in tightly, resting his chin on top of her head as they sway lightly from side to side.  
"You're drunk, aren't you?" The brunette whispers into his chest.

" _Shhhh_." Mackenzie quiets her as he closes his eyes and steals her warmth, "Just embrace my embraceness….ness." Aria quietly laughs as they continue to hug for a few more seconds before they pull apart. Mackenzie takes Aria's hand and places a gentleman's kiss on it, "I'll see you later, ok?"

"Alright." Aria smiles up at him, putting her hand on his chest with a playful shove, "Be safe. And don't do anything stupid."

"I'll wrap it up, I promise." Mackenzie shuffles off in the opposite direction to get to his friend giving Aria the chance to run after Alex and Spencer when a voice stops her.

" _Aria?_ "

Aria turns around to the front door of the busy house see Noel coming out in a gladiator costume. She sighs out as she scratches the back of her neck, wishing that she could just disappear. "Hi…"

"Hey," He walks forwards onto the porch, "I didn't know you came over."

"Yeah, I was invited." Aria responds back dryly, shoving her hands into her robe pockets.

"Well, it's really good I found you because...It's been almost a month now and I've haven't heard from you."

"Yeah well I was just leaving so-"

"Oh, let me come back with you." Noel offers the friendly gesture, "We can talk at your place."

"Can we not, please?" Aria impatiently moves her shoulders up and down to create some warmth as the cold night really begins to hit her. "There is nothing to talk about. _Absolutely nothing_. I really don't understand the constant need for a sit down when we weren't together. Just..." Aria squints as she looks around at her surrounding before her eyes catches Noel's "Just move on and live your life, Noel."

Noel stands silent for a moment, causing Aria not to know if she has the passage to just walk away or not. "...It's him isn't it?"

"What?"

"The guy you just said goodnight to. The monkey boy...you're dating him, aren't you?"

Aria stands there confused before it hits and rolls her eyes, "Goodnight, Noel." She turns to walk away but Noel quickly jumps in front of her path.

"What does he have that I don't have?" He desperately questions Aria as he walks backwards, "What about him makes you want to give him attention and throw me to the side?"

"Goodnight, Noel."

"What the hell, Aria?!" Noel physically begins to give up with a throw of his arms, "We were fine one night and then I'm suddenly I'm public enemy #1. Just tell me what I did so I can apologize and fix it!"

"I said _Goodnight, Noel_." Aria repeats with her voice dripping in authority, staring him deeply into his eyes before she walks past him onto the path to her car, leaving Noel on the front porch of the frat house.

…

Dropping Alex off at her dorm, the girls finally make it back to theirs from the late partying that was more of a headache than an actual party. Aria huffs out as she throws herself on her bed with her feet hanging off while Spencer follows shortly after with a water bottle.

"Tired?"

" _Nope_ ," Aria quickly sits straight up as she begins kicking off her loafers. "I still have a few more hours left in me."

Spencer takes a sip from her water bottle before she points it at her, "You should have went as the energizer bunny. I think it would have overall fit you better." Spencer leans against Aria's door frame as she begins to take off her heels.

"Wait!" Aria yells out with the extension of her hands, making Spencer stop her process. "I know I'm not going to see you dressed up as this again so I want to milk this for as long as I can."

"What are you implying?" Spencer stands up straight with an arch in her brow.

"Just…stand there," Aria fidgets to get her phone from her robe pockets just as she gets a lightbulb idea. " _Wait_. Don't move." She springs off her bed and quickly goes into her closet, digging for something. After a few moments of rummaging, Aria pulls out her black Nikon D7000, removing the lens cap and turning it on to check for battery life.

" _What_ are you doing, Aria...?" Spencer drags out the sentence with completely curiosity and confusion.

"Creating memories," Aria coolly answers with a soft smile. Being satisfied with the life of the camera, she sets up the properties she wanted for her pictures and points her lenses at Spencer. "Smile."

"What are you going to do with these pictures?"

Aria snaps a candid photo of Spencer anyway before she lowers the camera. "What would I do with them? These are my little treasured moments made for my eyes and my eyes only. You never have to worry about anything being " _put out_." You know me, Spencer." Aria gives Spencer an assuring smile before she lifts her camera back at eye level, "Now...give me your best sex kitten look." Spencer squints at her causing Aria to giggle, putting her camera down again, "What?"

"No, Aria."

" _C'mon!_ " Aria whines as she twists from side to side with a full-blown pout, "I want to have my own personal playboy collection of you. _Pleaseeeee_?" Spencer watches over at Aria's begging and contemplates to herself for a moment. After heavy consideration, Spencer gives her agreement with a nod of her head " _Ok!_ " Aria brings the camera back up, focusing her lenses on her personal model, "So...give me something sexy."

"Well…can't I have music or something?"

"What do you mean?"

"Normally during photoshoots they have music playing to get you into the set mood."

"Oh, right!" Aria grabs her phone out of her pocket and unlocks the lock screen to open her music player, "Uhmm, let's see...what would put you in _the mood?_ "

"Playboy is seductive so anything dark and raw, I guess. Like Rihanna, Banks, James Blake, something like that." Spencer shrugs in uncertainty, "And none of that country music neither. I'm not trying to seduce a tractor trailer."

With a tilt of her head, Aria squints her eyes and sticks her tongue in her cheek at Spencer's remark, "You think you're funny, huh?" Spencer gives an amused smile back as Aria continues to search through her phone. Instead of picking a song in her player and having the moment ruined by a completely different vibe of a song playing afterwards, Aria goes to her music playlist app in means of searching for a _'sexy playlist'_. "Okay..." Aria looks at her choices presented in front of her, "I've most likely never heard these songs before _but_ this playlist has over 34,000 plays and over 1,000 likes _sooo_..." Aria presses the play button, "We're going to work with this."

The room goes completely silent as the girls patiently wait for their first song to play.

"What is the first song called?"

"This is called….Infidelity by DJ Bahler & Frail Limb Purity." Aria reads off the 1st track in the playlist. She looks up at Spencer with an unsure look, "I have never heard of these artists."

Spencer nods as the sounds of a slow xylophone and glitched vocals fade in from Aria's phone growing louder by the second. After a few seconds, Spencer mentally decides the song was gritty and sultry enough for her liking. Embodying the role of spewing confident sex appeal, Spencer shakes her hair and looks down at the bottle of water in her hands. Right as she decides to put it down, the thought of her using it as her prop spikes her interest. Aria moves herself slightly to the side to gain the most suitable angle when she snaps a picture of Spencer intently looking at her water bottle with curiosity yet mischief. Spencer twists off the cap and raises the bottle to her mouth but waterfalls the cold liquid instead of nuzzling the brim on the around her lips. The sight causes Aria to take a few more snapshots of the water free falling into her mouth with a touch of seduction coming from Spencer's side.

" _Sexy_." Aria smiles as she pulls back the camera to see her photo's outcome, "That one was a good one."

Spencer sets the water down on Aria's nightstand as the vocals of the song finally comes into forefront enough to recognize who was singing.

 _"So you can slowly take off your clothes,  
Baby girl, you know what's in store.  
And baby I will stay up all night.  
I've been goin' hard since last night.  
And I'mma go harder tonight."_

 _The Weeknd._

Spencer leans her body against the door frame, caressing her hand along the white painted wood, looking at Aria with a look of sensuality and desire. A round of flashing lights flicker as Aria's excitement causes her finger to become trigger happy. Through the flashes, Spencer lifts her right foot up to show off her gold heels with her mouth parted open in a slight gasp.

"Yes, yes. _Perfect_." Aria encourages the brunette with one eye closed as the other looked through the viewfinder. Moving more to the right to get a better look, Aria smiles through her gritted teeth, "Perfect, perfect, perfect."

In a snap movement, Spencer spins around and arches her back against the door frame with her arms gracefully extended upwards and her head thrown back. She closes her eyes as she swiftly turns her wrists in the air, bringing them down to her face before she twists her head to gaze at Aria.

The look coming from Spencer's face causes Aria to quietly gulp down as she continues taking her pictures. The gamble of the new song proved it's allegiance as Spencer completely dissolves herself into the melody.

 _"And I'mma work you like a pro, baby.  
And you gon' take it like one,  
Yeah you gon' take it like one."_

Spencer leaves her door posts and slowly strides over to Aria, causing Aria snap more pictures as she take a step back with every step Spencer advances towards her. Looking through the viewfinder, Aria notices Spencer eyes weren't concentrated on the camera at all but on Aria herself. She peeks up from the camera and locks eyes with Spencer right as her back bumps into the wall from backing up to far. Feeling a bit flustered from Spencer's new persona, Aria let's out a forced cough as she tries to play off her clumsy moment. Spencer changes her sights to Aria's made bed and lowers herself down to lay on her back. Aria readjusts her lenses and finds a decent position from the corner of her bed as she points the camera to capture Spencer from her chest up.

"You look..." Aria tries to find the right words as she feels like she's being hypnotized by Spencer underneath her lenses. " _Nice_." Aria clears her throat as the word slips out of her mouth.

"That's it?" Spencer taunts at Aria's discomposure as she changes positions to laying on her stomach with her heels crossed in the air behind her, "I look _nice_?"

"Of course you look more than nice," Aria quickly recovers, "You-you're-you look amazing. Everything just..." Aria waves her hand over Spencer who bites her nail and smiles at Aria's babbling, "Everything is just nice on you because it fits and makes you look incredibly sexy. Uh-not that you're not sexy all the time! I-I mean you're sexy even when you're doing nothing, it's just now you look even more sexier than when you do nothing. I mean you're-you-I-I'm just going to shut up and do the only job I have which is to shut up and take pictures." Aria lifts the camera back to eye-level and begins focusing back on Spencer. Leaving her smile lingering, Spencer slowly drags her nail out of her mouth and pulls down her bottom lip as her eyes focuses back on the camera.

 _"Forget what you know,  
Make yourself at home  
'Cuz baby when I'm finished with ya  
You won't wanna go outside."_

The song slowly fades out from the last hook and begins to play a more familiar tune from a more familiar artist with a more familiar sex appeal.

 _"The mood is set.  
So you already know what's next.  
TV on blast.  
Turn it down,  
Turn it down.  
Don't want it to clash with my body screaming out."_

Spencer plays along with the lyrics as she extends her hand to reach for Aria's robe, gliding her fingers down with a suggestive bite of her lip. Aria, looking down at Spencer's hand, sucks in air and turns around, facing away from the brunette.

"I need to take this off," She walks towards her dresser, "These things are making me hot." She lets out a nervous chuckle as she removes her white hat and sets it down, looking at herself in the mirror.

 _Woo. Ok. This went more left than expected. Just keep it together and take pictures. That's all you're doing. Just taking pictures. You're a photographer. You know what your job is. Just do your job. Take pictures._

As Aria had her self-pep talk, she didn't notice Spencer removing her heels and slowly creeping up behind her.

"You know what else is hot?" Spencer whispers into Aria's ear making the smaller brunette practically jump. Spencer looks at Aria through the mirror as she wraps her arms around her neck, " _You are_."

Aria starts to laugh as she looks down. Out of all of their advances that have been made total, Aria is mostly the one to initiate them by using the classic tactic of seduction. But seeing how the game has flipped on her, she can't help but laugh at how tongue-tied and how flustered she has become. "You're good... _you. are. good."_

Spencer smirks as she and Aria make eye contact again through the mirror. Aria flips down her flash enabler, lifts the camera to her chest and takes a picture of the sensual moment of Spencer standing behind her with her head resting on Aria's shoulder. Spencer reaches over, grabs Aria's camera, turns it off and sets it down on the dresser, signaling to Aria that she's done with taking pictures.

Before Aria could utter a word, Spencer's hands come back and untie Aria's robe, sliding it off the brunette to leave her standing with a white tank and her black jeans. "There's a lot of things I want right now..." She continues to whisper in Aria's ear, rendering her completely helpless. "And there is a lot of things I want _you_ to do..." Her hands glide down Aria's chest towards her jeans and begins to unbutton them. Aria gazes at Spencer through the mirror in a haze that's starting to cloud everything around her as she lets Spencer do whatever she wanted. Spencer holds Aria's gaze while she pulls the brunette's pants down, revealing her dark blue cheekys she wore underneath. With Spencer working on removing Aria's jeans, Aria helps along with the process as she rips off her tank top with more enthusiasm than normal. Finished on her legs, Spencer gets back up and sees Aria shirtless with her black and blue lacy bra. Spencer smiles to herself at the no time wasted on Aria's behalf. She grabs Aria's hands and begins to gently remove her accessories. As she slips off her watch and her rings, Spencer notices Aria's chest heaving up and down before she glances up to see Aria staring at her.

" _You're so fucking sexy, Spencer_." Aria husks out in a soft-spoken voice through her lowered eyes.

Not breaking eye contact, Spencer leads Aria to her bed, pulling her down on top of her as her legs wrapped around Aria's waist.

"You know what I've realized?" Aria asks Spencer as she hovers over her.

"What did you realize?"

"I think I'm going to become a sex addict."

Spencer laughs as she puts her arms around Aria's neck, "Why would say that?"

"Because this..." Aria's eyes drift at every curve of Spencer's body, just teasing her, "I want all the time. Every time we're together, every time we're apart, I want you all the time." Aria leans down a gives a gentle kiss on Spencer's forehead, "24 hours of the day," She places a kiss on the tip of her nose, "7 days of the week," Places a kiss on her left cheek, "4.3 weeks in a month," Returns the favor for the right cheek, "And 12 months in a year." Aria slowly reaches Spencer's lips and gives her a slow and soft kiss. Spencer's fingers slide up to the back of Aria's head and unties her ponytail, letting her hair fall free. Their kisses start off slow and passionate with Aria's hands caressing Spencer's side when Spencer decides to switch things up and flip Aria over so that she's the one in control. Aria grabs Spencer's face, pulls her down and latches onto her bottom lip, chasing it with her tongue as she can still taste the mint lip balm Spencer used earlier. Pulling away from Aria's greed, Spencer sits up straight, straddling the brunette underneath her.

"Someone's being avaricious tonight."

"I can't help it." Aria grips Spencer's hips, caressing Spencer's leather shorts, slowly tracing her stockings as well, "What else am I supposed to do when you come at me the way you do?"

Spencer pouts as she narrows her eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, you don't?"

"Na uh."

"Well," Aria leans forward, tugging onto Spencer's bowtie to make her lean into her as well, "let me be the one to remind you…" Aria goes to kiss Spencer when Spencer cups her face and looks her in the eye, making Aria smile.

"I'm sorry….I'm getting a bit tired. I think I'm going to turn it in for the night." Spencer climbs off of Aria and hops off the bed. Aria's smile is immediately wiped off with confusion quickly making a substitution.

"Uhm- _what_? _Wait_! Wh-what are you doing?"

Spencer swoops down and grabs her heels off the floor, "I'm going to sleep."

"What about everything you were saying?! About the things you wanted to do and the things you wanted me to do?!" Aria jerks straight up watching Spencer collect her things with no hesitation, "Wha-bu-y-y-you can't leave me like this!"

"But I can," Spencer responds without looking at Aria with a shrug as she walks out of her room.

Seeing that Spencer was actually leaving, Aria quickly shoots out of the bed, fumbles to the ground and staggers to her feet, chasing after Spencer who hurries her step to close and lock her room door in Aria's face.

Aria immediately jiggles the handle to see that it was in fact locked. " _Spencer!_ Spencer, c'mon!" The brunette desperately knocks on the door, "Open the door, please!"

"Goodnight, Aria."

"Are you kidding me? Spencer!" Aria forces the door handle again but gets nowhere. She sighs out in defeat as she glances down at herself. There she was. In her bra and underwear, banging on Spencer's door. "I get it." Aria nods to herself, "Your plan was to get me all worked up just to leave me looking like some pathetic loser while you probably laugh behind the door, huh? Ok! Jokes on me! Hahaha!" Aria forces out a laugh as she watches the locked door, hoping to hear anything on the other side, "Now, please open the door, Spencer."

 _Silence_.

"Is this payback for something? Did I do something to you that warranted this? Did I make-THIS IS PAYBACK FOR MAKING YOU WEAR THAT PLAYBOY COSTUME, ISN'T IT?!" Aria crosses her arms in amazement for potentially cracking the code, "You didn't want to wear that outfit and you're upset because I forced you to wear something that is _'oppressive to women because they treat them like objects and adds to rape culture and misogyny'_." Aria recalls one of Spencer's rants about the whole playboy industry. "That's it, isn't it?"

 _Silence._

"I'm sorry, Spencer. Open the door, please."

 _Silence._

Aria tries a different approach, "Open the fucking door, Hastings."

 _Silence._

"PLEASE, I'M BEGGING!"

 _Silence._

" _Ok_." Aria claps her hands together, nodding her head with a pout as she stares at Spencer's door, "Ok. _Two_ can play this game. I'll remember this." She points at the door as if Spencer could see her, "I'll remember all of this, don't you worry." Aria turns around and walks over to her room before she spins around, facing Spencer's door once again,

"Game on!"

….

Singing lightly to herself as she turns off the stove fire, Aria sways from side to side grabbing herself a plate to put her freshly cooked food on.

" _Here we go, come with me. There's a world out there that we should see."_ Aria sings, scrapping the scrambled eggs from the pan on to her plate. _"Take my hand, close your eyes. With you right here, I'm a rocketeer. Let's flyyyyy."_

A few moments into Aria self-performance, Spencer emerges from the corner in her pajamas.

" _Mmmm_." She stretches her hands above her head as she walks on the tips of her toes, "Smells like someone is doing a little home cooking."

"Yep." Aria responds with her eyes flickering up to look at Spencer for a brief second before she collects the pan and places it inside the sink, "Felt in the mood for some eggs, sausage and pancakes so...that's what I made."

Spencer leans against the kitchen bar with her arms propped up as she watches Aria. She softly smiles to herself, "I hope you're not upset about last night."

" _Me_? Oh no, that's done and over with," Aria unscrews the top of the fruit punch carton and focuses on her glass as she pours in the juice, "I've moved on."

"Great." Spencer pushes herself of the bar and strolls over to Aria putting away the juice inside the fridge, "So..." She wraps her arms around Aria's waist, nuzzling her neck into the crook of her neck, "What's mine to eat?"

" _That_ ," Aria points to the box of oatmeal she had left on the counter for this exact moment, "There's some milk in the fridge." Aria pulls herself out of Spencer's grasp and grabs her plate and glass before turning herself to face Spencer with a fat grin, " _Knock yourself_ _the fuck_ _out_." The smaller brunette gives a few good pats on the side of Spencer's face and walks out of the kitchen leaving Spencer blindsided.

"I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling _so_ attacked right now." Spencer watches Aria move on towards her room, "I thought you said you moved on!"

"I did!"

Spencer hears the closing and locking of Aria's door as she still stands inside the kitchen left completely baffled. Shaking her head, Spencer sighs as she shuffles herself to the refrigerator.

….

Throwing her sports bag over her shoulder, Spencer grabs her keys off the hook as she slips her feet into her tennis shoes, "I'm heading out to practice. I'll be back later on."

"Bye." Aria's voice sounds from the couch she lays on, reading her book.

Spencer sighs with the tilt of her head, "Really?"

"What?" Aria dryly responds as she turns the page.

"Are you seriously mad at me?"

Aria eyes leave her book and catches Spencer's, "No, why would you think that?"

"Because...you know-nevermind." Spencer unlocks the front door and swings it open, "Bye."

"Bye!"

…

Sitting on couch with her pink fuzzy socks resting on top of the coffee table, Aria has her laptop circulating on lap as she looks through her camera roll attached via USB. Fully involved in the gallery, she hears a knock at the door and minimizes her window before closing her computer. She trots over to the door and unlocks it,

"Ken doll!" Aria squeals as she opens the door.

"Hey…"

" _For fuck's sakes,_ _Noel._ " Aria face sags in disappointment and annoyance as she leans against the door, "What the hell did I do to deserve you at my door _right now_?"

"Well, blowing me off would be a major detail, wouldn't you agree?" Noel responds back with the same attitude he was greeted with.

"Don't you have something else to do?" Aria complains, "Someone to be seeing? Work that has to be done?"

"Yeah, and you're related to all three." Noel side-steps Aria and walks into the dorm without permission. Aria turns around with the door still open as she gawks at Noel's boldness.

"Excuse you-"

"All I want is an explanation, that's it." Noel turns to face Aria, cutting her off, "Something that makes sense as to why you are treating me like a pest."

Aria scoff with the crossing of her arms, "I was thinking more of a pain in my ass but pest is just as good."

" _See!_ " Noel rises up in his voice and shoulders as he points at Aria, _"That! You belittling me._ Where the _fuck_ is that coming from? From what I remember, I haven't done _anything_ to you."

Noel is right. He hasn't done anything to her. But just because he hasn't affected her personally doesn't mean she didn't lose full respect for him.

" _ **No. We. Are. Not**_ **." Spencer firmly irritates in a low, husked tone. "If we go through that hallway, we limit our visions. We already fucking lost one member because of your incompetent judgements."**

" **Are you sure you want to rise up to me right now, Hastings?" Noel steps in Spencer's face, only the strain in his eyes and the annoyance in his voice visible. "We're not debating this."**

" **It's a fucking trap walking in** _ **that**_ **direction." Spencer voice tries to keep her voice in a low whisper but the rise in her blood is making it difficult, "I know all that alcohol you've consumed didn't kill off all the five brain cells you had left to the point you can't make the right call when needed to." Unable to see everyone's faces, the vibe in the hall changed with the rest of the team looking back and forth in between the two debaters.**

 **Noel narrows his eyes at Spencer for a few seconds before he addressed the rest of the team. "Everyone." He gives the rest of the team a signal, not moving his eyes off Spencer "We're going in. Aria, stay close."**

" **No, Aria." Spencer demands, "We're going upstairs."**

" **Are you really trying to one up me on this, Spencer?" Noel challenges the brunette with the rest of the team, including Aria stuck in place. "You're a fucking newbie, trying to kill this whole operation."**

…

" _ **Fuck**_ **!" Noel exclaims out as he rips his mask off. "Now we're even farther away from the safe house."**

" **If you would have fucking** _ **listened**_ **to me when I said-" Aria runs up to Spencer trying to calm her down seeing that she's getting to that breaking point.**

" **Spencer, come here. Come here." Aria grabs Spencer's arm, pulling her away from the group as Spencer and Noel state exchange eyes of resentment. "Calm down. It's okay." She whispers, rubbing the taller brunette's arm.**

… **.**

 **Spencer annoyingly sighs as she closes her eyes, shaking her head at the words that are beginning to spew in the moment of anger. "Aria, I-"**

"… **And then you have Ms.** _ **I know everything**_ **trying to go against fucking the grain."**

 **Without second thought, Spencer walks past Aria, pulling down her mask and drawing her gun, pointing it directly at Noel's head. "Say one more thing, you stupid fuck." Immediately having a weapon drawn on him, Noel quickly pulls his gun on Spencer, aiming at her at eye level.**

" _ **WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!**_ **" Every collected member of the group yells out as Spencer's vision starts tunneling in, locking directly into Noel.**

" _ **Say one more thing.**_ **"**

" **You know how much it'll hurt getting shot at close distance?" Noel sneers, testing the stone cold brunette. "I suggest you do yourself a favor and put it down."**

" **FUCK you." Spencer beetled her forehead as her face heated five more degrees.**

…

 **The entire game seemed to be on pause as everyone watches Spencer leave the game, Noel emerges from his captivity as Aria slowly walks towards him, her sees widen as if she had just seen a dead relative.**

" **Crazy fucking bitch…" Noel groans, rubbing his wounded side as he hunkers over, leaning against the doorframe.**

 **Without any warning, Aria's hand smacks down across Noel's face causing all the remaining players to jump back in surprise. She pulls him into her by the front of his hoodie, "If I ever hear you talking to her like that, so help me Noel Khan, you're not going to know pain until I'm done with you." With her hazel eyes burning into his, not waiting to hear his response, Aria pushes him out her face.**

"I just can't get with your attitude." Aria shifts onto one leg as her eyes drift off to the side, "You're mean and a bully sometimes and I…I just can't rock with that."

"A bully to who?!" Noel leans into Aria with bewilderment smeared on his face, "People fucking love me!" Aria sighs and goes to speak but Noel cuts her off before she had the chance to utter anything, "Look, Aria, I like you. Now, I'm not like this for _any girl_ but I like you. You're not like the other girls. You're so thoughtful and full on life and have the cutest-"

"I'm fucking seeing someone, Noel." Aria huffs out an interruption to Noel's ranting before he makes an even bigger fool of himself than he already is.

Noel stares at Aria for a moment, hearing the words that he always suspected, " _Who?_ Who are you seeing?"

Before Aria could come up with some kind of reply, Mackenzie shows up at the open door, coming over as per Aria's request earlier. "You're looking at him." Aria quickly answers.

Mackenzie's eyes shift as he immediately notices the thick tension in the air created by the two, "Uhm…Is this a bad time? I could come back later."

"No. no, It's fine," Aria waves Mackenzie inside, "Come in."

"When did you meet him?" Noel bluntly asks, not caring about subtlety or the fact that Mackenzie was right there, closing the door behind him.

"None of your damn business, honestly." Aria defends on the behalf of her friend who stands uncomfortably besides Aria, not understanding anything that is going on.

"You were seeing him while I was talking to you?"

"First of all, who the hell are you?" Mackenzie steps up against the blatant disrespect towards his appearance and the visible discomposure Noel is causing Aria.

Noel squints in his eyes in the transfer from Aria to Mackenzie; a 6'1 fairly fit male who could easily go toe to toe with him if wanted needed to. "I'm Noel. Who the hell are you?"

"Noel, stop it-"

"Don't worry about who _I am_." Mackenzie returns the attitude as he checks Noel up and down, "I suggest you leave. You don't have no business here."

" _I_ don't have no business here?"

"You don't have _any_ business here."

Aria runs her hand through her hair as she watches Mackenzie and Noel begin to challenge each other's for dominance. The last thing she needs is a fight breaking out because Noel doesn't understand the importance of the word, "Leave." Noel smiles at Mackenzie, finding his presence amusing, to say the least.

"I'm just trying to talk to Aria, that's all."

"Well does it look like she wants to talk to you, Noel?" Mackenzie shoots back.

Ignoring his antics, Noel looks past Mackenzie and sets his eyes on the only reason he came, "Aria, can I-"

"Are you fucking _deaf_ , dude?" Mackenzie cocks his head to the side as he stands in front of Aria, blocking Noel's view, "Did you leave your hearing aid in your room or something?"

"This isn't up for you to decide, Lassie." Noel steps into Mackenzie's space making both guys fix their stances and posture, "Last time I checked, you're not Aria. So park yourself on the couch like a good boy and be quiet."

" _What did you say to me?_ " Mackenzie shoves Noel causing him to stumble backwards. As the blond walks towards the brunet in means of confronting him, Aria immediately lunges into defensive mode as she runs in-between the two, putting her hands on Mackenzie's chest.

"Mackenzie, nonono. _Stop-stop_." She urges him as he continues to stare Noel down with a scowl.

Noel fluffs his jacket as he smirks at Mackenzie, "It's best if you listen _, Ken doll_."

"No, Noel." Aria turns to face Noel who's still smiling, "I want you out."

The smile is quickly replaced when Noel looks down at Aria, not understanding what she said, "What?"

"All this," Aria waves her hand in a dismissive manner, "You making random appearances, bothering me whenever you see me, I-I don't want it." Aria looks up a Noel with exhaust, "I want you out and I don't want to see you again. I'm sorry but it's over. I mean, it's _been_ over but, it's done. So...just _go_."

The processing time for Noel takes a moment to register as he steadily blinks at Aria, " _Alright_..." He nods his head looking down, pouting his lips, "Fine….I'm gone." He takes one last glance at Mackenzie who still glares at him with disgust. Noel simple chuckles and walks out of the dorm, closing the door behind him.

" _God_..." Aria rubs her face with a long drawn out sigh.

Mackenzie stares at the door before turning to Aria, "What the hell was that all about?"

"This...this _dumbass_ ," Aria wrings the back of her neck, not knowing where to walk or how to stand. "He's acting as if we were a thing but we were _never_ together. I met him a few months ago, he flirted with me, I flirted back, we made out _ONE TIME_ and now he's acting as if we were married."

"Well, what made you drop him?" Mackenzie asks as he crosses his arms trying to understand this storyline he was sucked into.

"Many things." Aria takes a seat back onto the couch, "I never really liked him like that. I mean he was cool but I would have never taken it to the next level. Besides, I joined his stupid club and one night he was being an _extreme_ dick to Spencer and I didn't like it. Like at all. So I slapped him." Mackenzie widens his eyes with Aria nodding in confirmation, " _In front of everyone._ Then that was the night Spencer and I...became _Spencer and I_."

Mackenzie lets out a sigh himself as he places his hand on top of his head, "Does he know about you guys at all?"

" _Nooooo_." Aria quickly responds, exaggerating the word as she shakes her head, "And I don't plan on telling him neither. Who knows what he'll do with that information."

"You think he'd purposely tell everyone just to get back at you?"

"I don't know..." Aria sits in thought, actually pondering the thought of Noel running around making the announcement out of spite, "I mean...I don't think so. I think he'll tell his friends, _"Oh, you know Aria left me for her roommate, Spencer."_ Then that friend will tell his friend. Then _that_ friend will tell someone who runs in the same circle as Spencer. Then _they'll_ tell just about _any_ adult on campus that knows Spencer and her family then _they'll_ call Spencer's mom and before you know it, Spencer's strangling me in my room while I'm asleep and then buries my body underneath my clothes."

" _Dammit_." Mackenzie walks over and sits down next to Aria, folding his hand in his lap, "So, I'm guessing I'm playing the role of your boyfriend until then."

" _No_." Aria turns to him with her brows pinched together, "Nonono, you're not. He's not going to bother me anymore. He'll find some other chick to bone then forget all about me. There's no more to worry about him."

"Good." Mackenzie sighs out in relief as he leans back into the couch, "Because I was this close with getting into a fight with him and I wouldn't even know why."

"I know. I'm sorry about that. That went left quicker than I needed it to." Aria hangs her head in embarrassment.

"It's all good." The blond dismisses as he smoothed over his face and strokes his chin, "This face is too good to get into a fight anyway."

"Oh, shut up." Aria giggles before she turns her body completely to face him, "And I see you're trying to grow some facial hair. Look at _yoooou_." She leans over and rubs his face. "With the scruff.'

"Hands off the goods, woman." Mackenzie swats Aria's hand away, "And yes, I'm trying a little something different."

"I like it." Aria grins.

"I bet you do." Mackenzie smirks back, resting his hands behind his head and putting his feet up on the coffee table. Aria kicks his feet down and smacks him with a pillow at his smug response.

...

Coming back to the dorms after a more technical practice rather than physical, Spencer unlocks the door and finds Aria and Mackenzie laying together on the couch, watching some kind of movie on Netflix.

"…. _Why_?" The only word Spencer could utter at the scene she came home to.

"Spencer, come. You gotta see this movie." Mackenzie waves Spencer over without even looking at her. "It's _Charlie Countryman_ with Shia Labeouf."

"Don't you have a home? _Somewhere_? Not here?" Spencer hangs her keys and kicks off her shoes, "You eat _my_ food, don't even pay me back, and now you're on _my_ couch with _my_ girlfriend. _What else_ do you plan on taking from me?"

"In my wallet, inside my bag, take a five." Mackenzie responds back with his eyes still glued to the screen, "That should cover everything." Aria giggles as they continue to watch the movie unbothered.

"Aria...back me up on this."

" _Nope_." Aria springs up off of Mackenzie and bypasses Spencer to the kitchen. "I invited him over so he's not leaving. He's _my_ guest."

"Right on." Mackenzie's fist goes in the air, agreeing along with Aria.

As Aria goes to get a snack from their pantry, Spencer goes up behind her and caresses the small of her back. "Make him go away," She whispers into Aria's ear.

"No," Aria spins around to face Spencer, "You're not going to get me again-"

" _I'm not_."

"-I'm not following for it-"

" _I'm not_."

"-You already burned me once and I can guarantee you it won't happen again-"

" _I'm not-I'm not_." Spencer whispers back to Aria. She tugs on Aria's t-shirt with a puppy pout as she gazes into her eyes.

Aria looks back into Spencer's eyes for a few seconds, reading what she's saying without saying anything.

" _Out_ , Mackenzie."

"Wait, what?" Mackenzie's head pops from behind the couch. He watches Aria grab his things as Spencer bows her head with a small smile she was trying to contain.

"Out." She throws his bag at him and scrambles for the remote, turning the TV off. "You can finish the movie back at your place."

"But-but I thought we were watching it together?" Mackenzie asks, stuck on stupid as he finds himself being pulled off the couch by Aria.

"Yeah, text me how the movies ends." Aria smiles as she drags him towards the door, unlocks it and begins pushing him out.

" _Wait_! What about you inviting me and being your guest?!"

"You're uninvited." Aria successfully pushes Mackenzie out into the hallway "I'll talk to you later, _ok?_ Ok, bye. Thanks for being a good sport, Iloveyoubye!" Aria quickly rambles out her words before she closes and locks the door. She immediately spins around to Spencer behind her.

"How quick we turn on our friends, eh?" Spencer taunts with a smirk.

Aria narrows her eyes at Spencer, unsure by her words, "You better not me fucking with me again."

"I'm so serious this time." Spencer responds back before she crouches down and scoops up Aria, kissing her hungrily in means of proving herself. Wasting no time, Aria returns the passion as Spencer turns around walks her over to the couch, falling onto her back so Aria lays on top of her.

"I want to bottom this time," Aria breathes out as she pulls a strand of hair behind her ear before she places a trail of kisses on Spencer's neck.

"No, you're going to top." Spencer replies as she extends her neck, giving Aria more access.

Aria stops and sits up straight with a frown, "I topped last time."

"And you were so good at it that I want you to do it again," Spencer coos with a smile as she slowly leans forward, gripping Aria's hips and softly kisses her lips.

"No," Aria rejects the kiss, still frowning, "I get to bottom. It's only fair because if you did it last time that means I do it this time. That's how it works."

" _Nooooo_...if you're good at something, you stick with it," Spencer defends herself with a reason for her to get her way.

"Ok, fine." Aria makes a fist, confusing Spencer, "Rock, paper, scissors. One shot. Winner bottoms."

Spencer looks at Aria with squinted eyes who challenges her back with a cock of her head. Spencer caves in and makes a fist, signaling her participation.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot."

 _Spencer shoots out scissors._

 _Aria shoots out rock._

" _Yes_! Haha!" Aria celebrates in victory as she climbs off of Spencer. Spencer lazily gets up as Aria does a small dance.

"Best two out of three."

" _Nope_! You lost fair and square," Aria laughs making Spencer playfully groan. "Now," Aria grabs Spencer by the collar and spins her back into the couch, bringing Spencer on top of her, "I want you to do that thing you know I like so much."

" _Which thing_?" Spencer mouth spreads into a sly grin as she hovers over Aria.

Aria chuckles before her eyes slant in lust, gazing deep into Spencer's eyes, "That thing with your tongue that makes me forget what state I'm in." She purrs as she trails her finger down Spencer's chest.

Spencer nods with her eyes narrowing down at the playful brunette, " _Yes, ma'am_."

 **I know you guys read me saying how thankful I am for you all one million times but here goes to one million and one times. Honestly, thank every single dedicated reader that has stayed along with me. Whether you have an account and are an avid reviewer or just a visitor passing through with this story bookmarked, checking every day for updates.**

 **Thank You.**

 **I always encourage others to write. Even if you think you're a "horrible writer", write. It's such a beautiful thing, I must tell you.**

 **Writing is something that I take pride in. It's something everyone should take pride in. To be able to create this world to your own liking, having no boundaries and being able to** _ **fly**_ **, all without leaving your room is such an amazing concept. To be able to take that world and put it down on paper (or word document in our times), letting your words become your power and energy to ultimately make yourself happy is honestly an incredible thing.**

 **But when you can take that world, take the words that make you happy, and be able to be brave enough to put it out in public for anyone and everyone to view it, pick it apart, and put their own worth on it takes strength and courage.**

 **But what makes it all worth it?**

 **The 1** **st** **comment you get from someone, a random person located somewhere on this planet, that tells you how much they enjoy your work and that it means something to them.**

 **Posting this Sparia fic on May 5** **th** **, 2015, I was very scared. I dove literally head first into the cement of writing fanfictions not knowing what to expect. I haven't written in** _ **yeeeeeeeeaaaars**_ **and with my debut back to the art I thought,** _ **"Hey! I know! Let's make a freaking fanfic for your first time back for a popular TV series with a very popular non-canon ship! :) No! Don't practice! Just write and let your audience tear you apart later! :) If they don't like it, just delete it and never write again! lol!"**_ **Then my 1** **st** **ever fiction was born. The next morning when I woke up, I instantly checked for a heartbeat.** _ **I'm not dead! I'm alive!**_ **Then I went to publish another story about a week later.**

 **And that was this precious story.**

 **After two days of no kind of response, I gave up. It was pretty quick I know but I did. Sparia doesn't have a huge follow like "Emison" so why bother? It's just going to fade into the background of the other amazing stories being written. But two days later, I got my first review that simply wrote:**

" **This is amazing! PLease continue :))" –** _ **Guest**_

 **I don't know if you're still reading this story,** _ **Guest**_ **, but I want to personally bow and thank you. Sometimes I wonder if you guys realize how important every single one of you are to me. It might sound cheesy but honestly, it's true. I could be having a really crappy day where all I want to do is just crawl into a hole and melt away and I'd get a notification from Gmail that reads I have a new review. And that'll review would say something like:**

" **This story is so good! I really like how you write Sparia so in-character, and I'm really excited to read what's next :)" -** _**Girlwithpaws**_

 **Or**

" **If no one has ever told you, I'd like to shout it from the tallest skyscraper for the world to know: you have an impressive talent here. Thanks for sharing it with us. I'm such a huge fan of this story; I get goosebumps (see what I did there? Haha) when I get the alert you've updated this well-crafted, flawlessly written, perfectly paced work of art. YOU ROCK!" -** _ **Siretha Elaine**_

 **Or I'll get the famous review from** _ **prettylittletaylorswift**_ **written in all caps :)**

" **PLEASE TOSS ME OFF THE NEAREST CLIFF I AM NOT OKAY RIGHT NOW!"**

 **When I read those comments left by you guys, it literally brightens my entire day like you wouldn't believe. Don't tell anyone this** _ **but**_ **I often re-read what you guys leave over and over and over and over with the most goofiest smile smeared on my face. But *Ahem* you didn't hear this info from me. I must uphold my representation of being a cold OG out on these streets. :P**

 **Yuck, this was longer than expected haha but seriously I love you guys.**

 ***Random reader's voice in the background* "** _ **Woah, woah!**_ **Calm with the L word, man!"**

 **Haha! ;)**

 **Through the story of Spencer and Aria being minor enemies in the beginning to friends to roommates to best friends to crushes and now to lovers, we have so much more** _ **life**_ **to experience with these two and I just hope we all have fun throughout this trip. Or shall I say, soon to be feels trip….**

 **:)**


	23. Chapter 23: Type A Personality

_**To Marga:**_ **Let me see if I can clear up any confusion. Spencer wasn't so much as "angry" as she was jealous. Think about it, imagine your boyfriend/girlfriend inviting you to a party who you know no one and when you go, they end up leaving you by yourself to hang around and take pictures with other girls (girls who are dressed very sexy at that). You wouldn't be angry but maybe just a tab bit jealous. Now if you meant what made Spencer "angry" enough to leave Aria practically in heat, it was just out of friendly spite. Just because she knows she has that power over Aria. :)**

 _ **To Sophie:**_ **I'm not saying goodbye! No way, Jose! I just felt like I owe'd you guys my gratitude for allowing me to develop this story. It's funny, when celebs normally get awards and they praise the fans from here to tomorrow, writing fanfiction, I know exactly how it feels because** _ **literally**_ **if it weren't for you guys, I would not be here at all. If it weren't for everyone that reads all my fics collectively, I would probably be doing a whole bunch of nothing, drowning in work with no outlet. But this gives me something to look forward to. Unfortunately, I do have a busy life being a college student but all I need is at least one hour a day to do this to just brighten my day a little more. And you guys are the sole reason it's possible! So no goobyes, not just yet.**

 _ **But I do have an announcement I want to make!**_

 **This story is being read all over the planet, (Which still bogles my mind, living here in the US) the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Canada, and Germany are my top 5 countries that reads this story the most in the past month. It interchanges a lot during the course of time but it's pretty amazing.**

 **However, I was approached by a very sweet user that goes by** _ **lauxan**_ **and she made a very good point. There are many people that read this story and don't speak fluent English enough to understand everything even though they really want to. Soooo, with the help of** _ **lauxan**_ **, Sparia is going international! For my Spanish speaking readers, Different Gazes will be republished, this time in Spanish for all your needs of entertainment! :D We are still putting things together enough to update regularly but be sure to keep an eye for it!**

 **Ahh, that makes me so happy to say! *Dances joyfully in my computer chair* Ok, ok, back to the story!**

CHAPTER #23: Type A Personality

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Deep into the night, Spencer scoots her chair forward as she keeps her eyes trained on her desk.

 _Planner_

 _Syllabuses_

 _Class notes_

 _Study guides_

 _Penn GPA paperwork_

 _Lacrosse team study book_

 _An invitation for a seminar_

Everything that is happening in the next two weeks all placed on her desk, sprawled out in front of her for her to see. Her eyes skate over to the piece of paper laying at the corner of her desk.

 _The 2014 Dean's list & 2015 Dean's Scholars._

Ever since she enrolled into Penn, she has always made the Dean's list. There was no such thing as Spencer _not_ making the Dean's list. Last year, as expected Spencer's name was happily plastered where it should be for everyone to take notice. And adding to the achievement, she was named one of the nine students in the entire university to make the _2015 Dean's Scholars._ An achievement that could make anyone walk around with an extra spring in their step. However, more is on her plate than it was in the fall term and all she can think about is not breaking her streak and making the list once again at the end of this spring. With everything rummaging through her mind, Spencer leans back in her chair and lets out a long breath.

Suddenly, she feels a pair of soft hands behind her, massaging her shoulders. Not even hearing Aria come in, Spencer leans her head back to look at the brunette before she went back to her desk.

"Tell me I can do it." Spencer anxiously sighs out, "Tell me that I can do all of this."

Aria peeks over Spencer and sees a sea of white, blue, and yellow papers, completely covering her desk. "You can do it. You know why?" Aria stops her massage and walks over towards the front of Spencer, taking a seat on her lap. "Because you're amazing and have the capability to do so."

"I have _so much_ to do. I have to go over my notes for my exams coming up, have a paper due by the end of this week, gotta get ready for the 3rd PPU session which is on Thursday from 8pm-11pm, have to memorize these plays and practice for the game this weekend. I-" Spencer tiredly drops her face into her hands, muffling her voice, "I just need confirmation-I need to know I can do this."

Aria's sadly pouts at Spencer's frustration and stress. Unlike Spencer, Aria moves more freely at the university rather than being married and committed to all these different societies and clubs all while staying on top of her school work. Focusing on her classes with a little recreational fun here and there, Aria had just joined a club of her own, _The Body Electric Club_ , a community where she can take her love for writing to the next level. Although, she couldn't fathom being spread thin the way Spencer is, she fully understands Spencer's stress. Aria combs the brunette's hair back and removes her hands from her face, showing Spencer's drained appearance with small bags beginning to appear under her eyes. "You _can_ do it. You're Spencer Hastings, you can do great, _great_ things." Aria holds Spencer hands in her own, "I have _so much_ faith in you. Even if you can't do it, my feelings towards you will not change." Aria raises her hand to stroke Spencer's cheek, giving her a soft, reassuring smile, "If you need help with _anything_ , you know I'm right here for you."

Spencer looks down at her hands intertwined with Aria's and slowly nods to herself, " _Thank you_ ," She looks back up at Aria, "Thank you."

Aria leans in a gives Spencer a sweet and lingering kiss before she pulls back and strokes the side of Spencer's face with her thumb. Rather than saying anything, she just stares into Spencer's eyes for a moment to let her know that she meant every word. Not wanting to take up anymore of her time, Aria swings of Spencer's lap and gives her forehead a kiss before she sends her off. Spencer glances back and watches Aria leave the room before she slowly turns back to her desk, taking yet again another deep breath.

…

After dedicating a few hours to the dorm being completely silent with both girls working in quiet, Aria drifts off into sleep as Spencer continues to type away at her computer.

"There are two recognized different types of egoism: Psychological egoism, which asserts the theory that we do always act selfishly, and Ethical egoism which is the theory of how people ought to act to promote his or her own interests exclusively. According to the author, ethics cannot become something learn."

Spencer shakes off her drooping eyes and takes a look at what she has written. Noticing she messed up in her last sentence, she backspaces and rewrites it.

"According to the author, ethics isn't natural."

 _Backspace._

"According the athour,"

 _Backspace._

"According to the author, ethics"

Spencer sleepily nods off at her keyboard before she jerks out of her sleep. She takes her hands and shakes them in front of her before she tries to wake herself.

"According to the author, ethics are not something we are naturally born with; we do not come into this world with a natural moral compass guiding our decisions."

Finally getting out the sentence that she has been battling with, Spencer sighs out and looks at how far she has gotten in her paper.

 _"127 words. Page 1 of 1."_

The brunette groans to herself as she reaches for her cup of coffee nearby. She brings it to her lips and leans her head back just to realize there was no more coffee left inside. Letting out another unsatisfied groan, Spencer pushes herself out of her chair and groggily walks out of her room towards the pitch back kitchen to get herself some more caffeine to help stimulate her brain. Flicking on the lights, Spencer goes and pours herself another cup and begins heating it up in the microwave.

 _Gotta stay up. You have to stay awake._ Spencer pinches herself a few times. She reaches her hand into her pajama pocket to see how much time she's working with, seeing that she already knows it's late.

 _3:17am._

 _Dammit. I'm not even close to being done. Another sleepless night in fucking Philadelphia._

 _..._

 _RING! RING! RING!_

Spencer snaps up from the sudden loud alarm besides her ear with a quick jolt and immediately shelters her eyes from the sun pouring into her room. She had fell asleep on her desk while trying to complete her work. However, she wouldn't call it sleep seeing that she had _just_ shut her eyes for a few minutes before her phone decided to blare right next to her. Spencer slowly leans backwards and sits straight up in her chair as she wipes her mouth. She jiggles her computer mouse for her screen to awaken as well to see how far her progress has gotten.

 _"407 words. Page 2 of 2."_

 _Wow. I actually got nowhere. Wonderful._

...

Spencer and Aria prepare themselves to get ready for the errands they have to run for the day. Aria getting ready for her club and Spencer handling a phone call, also planning to leave as well, both girls work around each other before they depart.

"Yes, I have emailed you the said forms through email earlier this morning." Spencer holds her phone between her right ear and shoulder as she fills her black and white striped traveler's mug with the freshly brewed coffee, Aria besides her filling her purple thermal with the tea she made. "Yes, the only thing I need is the email authorization from you that all the information is correct and up to date so that I could turn in the application before the deadline." Spencer lowers the coffee pot back into the maker, turns around to the kitchen bar and begins putting her folders and notebooks into her bag as Aria seals the cap on her lid, readjusting her purse on her shoulders. "As long as you scan the paperwork with your signature at the bottom, you can forward the email back to them. They'll accept it that way instead of sending it via postal service." Aria reaches over Spencer to reach for the buttered croissant placed by her bag, trying to not make a lot of noise removing the cover. Opening the package, Aria quickly grabs the bread and rips a piece off and shoves it in Spencer's mouth knowing with her scattered brain, she'll forget to eat before she leaves. " _Mhmm_." Spencer quickly chews on the croissant, "Whenever you have the time, there is no rush." Aria places the lid back as Spencer swings her bag over her shoulder. She bends down and gives a kiss to Aria goodbye before she grabs her coffee mug. "Bye," She mouths to the brunette as she makes her way to the door.

"Bye," Aria whispers back with a small smile.

Spencer unlocks the front door and transfers her phone from her right shoulder to her right hand, giving the last wave to Aria before she closes the door behind her.

Aria turns around to grab her tea mug when she reaches for a black and white mug instead of a purple one. Aria sighs to herself as she stands in the kitchen, counting down softly to herself.

"7….6….5….4….3….2…."

Spencer emerges from the other side of the door, holding the purple tea mug in her hand. Before she could say anything, she sees Aria standing in the kitchen, holding Spencer's correct mug in the air. Spencer sighs out a relief as she rushes towards the smaller brunette and exchange the cups. "Thanks,'' she whispers as she gives Aria another kiss on her cheek. Aria amusedly nods her head before Spencer spins around and rushes out the door.

…

Walking into the holding room for the writing workshop for the first time, Aria slips in quietly, grabbing an empty seat to sit as a speaker talks to the members.

"Here, we establish and maintain an inclusive, constructive, and creative community of poets. Inspired by Walt Whitman, we will cultivate an all-embracing spirit and welcome all poetic forms, from innovative to traditional." The woman explains to everyone sitting down in front of her, "Within our community, we work to build a trusting atmosphere conducive to collaboration and honest editing. We strive to foster a love of poetry and writing across campus." She continues to explain the means of the group before she has everyone introduce themselves to become familiar.

"Hi, my name is Aria Montgomery and I'm a junior majoring in English." Aria introduces herself with her time to stand up. "I write as well but so far it's mostly personal, you know, just for me. _Uhm_ …." Aria presses her lips together as she awkwardly looks around, "I also love to read. I-uh-I even have my own personal " _library_ " so to speak in my dorm." Aria laughs to herself as some surrounding people nod in approval. "But I was invited by Angela to come check this club out and…. _here I am_."

"Welcome, Aria," The organizer smiles as she begins clapping, making the whole room clap in unison, welcoming Aria to their group. "We are thrilled to have you join us and can't wait to see the creativity you bring."

Aria nods her head and takes a seat back down into her chair. The next person besides her takes their mark, stands up, and beings their introduction as well.

 _I think I'm gonna like it here._

….

Leaving the academic office, Spencer goes to the first floor of the building and walks into the small student longue to get something to snack on before she continues on with her journey. Checking her text messages while she slowly walks the aisle of the student store, she accidently bumps into someone walking in the opposite direction.

"Oh! I am _so sorry_." Spencer immediately apologizes before she notices who the person was.

" _Hey_ , Spencer." He returns back to Spencer with a smile.

"Hey, Andrew." Spencer readjusts her bag on her shoulder, "I didn't even see you there."

"You were so busy in your phone, I could see why." Andrew laughs, "How are you? It's been a minute."

"I've been fine but," Spencer embarrassingly waves her phone before she shoves it in her pocket, "I have so many thing to do today, that thing is practically glued to my face."

" _So_ , I'm guessing if I ask you to a quick sit-down and chat," Andrew politely puts his hands behind his back with a hopefully smile, "you'll say no?"

"I mean…" Spencer sighs as she ponders the thought, looking around, "A quick chat never killed anyone."

"Only if you're in the mafia." Andrew grins.

"Yeah, then I'd tell you _hell no_ then run for my life." Spencer and Andrew share a small laugh before he offers Spencer to lead the way.

Andrew and Spencer are definitely not strangers for one another. In fact, they are very competitive towards each other almost in a frenemy kind of way. Although they fight for the same things and had a small rivalry between each other in their Speech & Debate team, they still know how to be cordial with one another when they have to. However, Spencer would be lying if she didn't subtlety side-eye this ' _talk_ ', not knowing what Andrew's true motivates are.

 _Does he genuinely want to talk or is he trying to get something out of me? Is he trying to find out that I'm faltering so he could sweep in and take my place in whose better? What are you trying to do here, Campbell?_

…

"First and foremost, I want to say congratulations on the lacrosse team." Andrew commends as he wraps his hand around his cup of coffee resting on the table, "You guys are really kicking some serious ass this season."

"Haha, thanks." Spencer chuckles as she looks down at her coffee, "It's all a product of getting _our_ asses kicked during practice."

"Well, you wouldn't be Spencer Hastings if you weren't challenged."

Spencer sighs, looking up at Andrew with the tilt of her head, "There is a difference between being _challenged_ and being pulled in every direction, praying that your limbs doesn't rip off."

"What do you mean?" Andrew leans in closer to Spencer with his eyebrows raised in concerned.

Spencer debates within herself if she should confide in Andrew. She tries to read his body language to see if he's actually sincere or not. But, from the looks of things, he seems like he holds no ulterior motive.

"Along with classes, lacrosse, upholding my grades _and_ doing community service to continue to _give back to my community_ ….I had joined Penn GPA."

" _GPA?_ " Andrew widens his eyes in surprise, "That's….that's intense. I mean, I thought about joining but it was asking too much of my time to dedicate. That's like an actual job." Andrew stresses his words, " _An active job_."

"Oh, do I know that now." Spencer sarcastically smiles as she rips a piece of her hot raisin bagel.

Andrew shakes his head as he raises his lips to his coffee cup, "What made you want to join?"

"Victoria and Peter Hastings." Spencer bites the bagel piece with her mouth twisted up in annoyance, "You already know how that goes."

"Ah," Andrew swallows down, nodding his head in understanding, "Mr. and Mrs. Hastings: UPenn's favorite couple. Coined with the golden child of Melissa Hastings."

Spencer makes a face of disgust as she rips another piece of her bagel, "Then you have the ugly duckling, Spencer Hastings who must live up to _everyone's glory_ to make the Hasting family complete or else it'll crash and burn and everyone gets sent to hell."

Andrew chuckles to himself, "You're far from an ugly duckling, Spencer."

Spencer looks at Andrew softly smiling at her before she lets out a small laugh, "Thanks."

"You know," Andrew readjusts his sitting position, "If you need any help, I'll more than happy to help you. Whether it's studying, research, even practicing. It's no fun beating you in things when you're too exhausted to even try."

" _There_ is the Andrew Campbell I was waiting for." Spencer leans back into her chair, crossing her arms as she narrows her eyes at Andrew sitting across from her, "The one that is always looking for an opportunity to one-up me. What are you planning to do? Get close to me then sabotage my work?"

"Nonono. I'm serious," Andrew laughs, surrendering himself with his hands lifted in the air, "See it as one fellow student trying to help another. No competition. No rivalry."

Spencer keeps her eyes on Andrew as he raises his cup to Spencer with a raise of his eyebrow before he takes a sip.

…

Looking at her phone, Aria sees _6:15pm_ in the corner of her screen as she still collected her things, about to leave the workshop that went fairly well. Knowing that Spencer was most likely still out and about and probably would be for a little bit more. Aria goes into her contacts list and finds the one contact that she knew she could depend on at times like this.

 _Ring…._

 _Ring…._

"Hello! _Axis Pizza_ , How can I help you?"

…..

Coming home after a long afternoon. Aria comes back to the dorm empty, just as she suspected. With the pizza delivered in means of covering for food, Aria takes a long, hot shower to warm herself up from the cold weather outside. After feeling clean and soothed, Aria slips into something more comfortable for the night wearing her hair in a thrown together bun, black boyshorts and an large, vintage grey Penn sweatshirt she brought on purpose for nights as so.

With the living dark except from the campus lights illuminating from their living room window, Aria goes into her room and applies lotion to her body as she plays some soft and slow music through their Blu-Ray player to add some ambiance to the room to appease the night.

" _Secret, hidden underneath it. Trying hard to keep it safely out of reach…  
Creeping, I can feel it breathing,  
Coming to the surface, finally in my dreams…"_

Spencer unlocks the front door, walks in, and hangs her keys on the door handle as she closes the door behind her. Taking in some deep breaths, Spencer closes her eyes, tosses her bag on the couch and drops to the floor. Being overwhelmed with the day and how she's still has more work to tackle, she lays on the ground trying to collect herself. Collect her thoughts. Collect what's wanted and what's needed. Understand where she's going. Understand what she's doing and if it's all going to be worth it in the end.

Hearing Spencer come in through the door, Aria peeks her head from her room to see Spencer laying on the ground. Aria immediately jogs over and catches a glimpse of Spencer's face, which stops her from saying anything. Seeing Spencer take deep controlled breaths in and out with her eyes closed and her arm draped over her forehead, it lets Aria know that she's not in pain or in any kind of discomfort.

It shows that's she's just tired.

" _Locked in. Buried under my skin.  
Riding on the whispers, restless in the wind…  
Hunted, I can feel it coming,  
Keep me under cover in what could have been…."_

Not wanted to disrupt Spencer's moment to herself, Aria bites her lip as she continues to stand over her. Making a split decision, Aria quietly lowers herself to the floor and slowly crawls on top of Spencer. Not even hearing Aria, Spencer suddenly shakes in surprise, shooting open her eyes upon feeling something on top of her. In that same second, realizing what Aria was doing, Spencer leans her head back and closes her eyes again with a soft sigh to herself. Putting her head gently on Spencer's chest with her palms planted onto the hardwood floor, Aria gently presses her body on top of the brunette's and listens to her rapid heartbeat. No words were exchanged. No movement was made. It was just them too laying silently, letting the darkness swallow them whole with the music flowing itself in all the corners of the room.

" _Don't make a sound now.  
Don't make a sound now.  
Maybe it won't find us after all.  
Carry…me….home…._

 _Taken down I give into what I can't disguise.  
I surrender…I surrender.  
Broken down, I give into what I cannot hide…  
I surrender...I surrender."_

"Are you ok?" Aria whispers as the song continues on in the background.

"…..I've had a long day…." Exhaustion roughened Spencer's words as she lets out a slowly shaky breath.

"Is there anything I could do to help?"

"I….I really don't want to talk….but I don't want you to leave," Spencer sucks in her bottom lip as she stares at the ceiling, "I don't want to be on my own."

Aria slides her fingers into Spencer's hands and intertwined them. She slowly raises their right hands to her mouth and places a gentle kiss on Spencer's hand before she pulls it into her, "Ok." She whispers back.

The two silently lay on the floor as the music continued to softly play. Wondering what Spencer was thinking, Aria's heart bleeds for the stress Spencer is going through. Having Spencer to herself, having fun when they wanted to, Aria tends to forget the real world and all its struggles. But she couldn't help it. Whenever she was with Spencer, all she saw and knew was Spencer. She knew from the moment they had their first art class together that she wanted to submerge herself with her.

...

Allowing herself to stay in time with Spencer, the girls lay through two additional slow songs. Aria sluggishly turns her head to glance up at Spencer who was staring at the ceiling as if she was off into her own world, not paying attention to anything happening in the reality of that moment.

Aria slowly climbs off of Spencer, letting go of her hand, and crouches down to her feet. Still wearing her boots, Aria unzips each side and slides her shoes off of her. Spencer hardly reacts with her eyes still staring off into the space above her. Putting her shoes to the side, Aria grabs Spencer's hand again to bring her up with her. Extremely reluctant to get up, without a sound, Aria keeps tugging on Spencer like a child begging their parents to go to the candy store. Slothfully raising to her feet with her body feeling like dead weight, Spencer's face crumples into a rueful grimace as she stood up weakly.

Aria then beings to unbutton Spencer's jacket without saying a word. Spencer watches her hands work over her as she starts to slowly relax. Aria opens the jacket and pulls it off of the taller brunette, placing it on the kitchen bar chair before she pulls Spencer in for a big hug. Her hands and fingers work up and down Spencer's back as she caresses her over to assure her that she wasn't going anywhere. Returning the embrace, Spencer rests her head on top of Aria's as she holds her with all the amount of energy she had left. Aria could feel the desperation radiating off of her just by feeling her body. Not wanting to let go and knowing that Spencer didn't want to neither, Aria's arms slide down to Spencer's waist as she gives her a soft squeeze. They stand in the area behind the couch, in front of the kitchen, holding onto each other with no words being uttered when yet another song begins playing with a soft and gloomy acoustic guitar strumming, signaling the slow vocals soon after.

" _Baby, look at me and tell me what you see.  
You ain't seen the best of me yet.  
Give me time, I'll make you forget the rest."_

Aria begins to gently sway from side to side as she hears one of her favorite covers sounding perfectly for them in that moment. Following her lead, Spencer slowly steps from side to side along with Aria.

" _I can catch the moon in my hand,  
Don't you know who I am?  
Remember my name._

 _I'm gonna live forever.  
I'm gonna learn how to fly high.  
I feel it coming together,  
People will see me and cry."_

Aria hands moves from Spencer's waist on upward to find Spencer's hand to hold with her left hand resting on the brunette's right arm. With Spencer's right hand on Aria's waist and her left hand inside's Aria's, Aria kindly places her small feet on top of Spencer's to move together in unison with Spencer leading. Standing in very close together, Aria closes her eyes as she rests her head on Spencer's chest with Spencer resting the side of her face on the top of Aria's head. Together, they slowly dance to the music playing from the TV.

" _Baby hold me tight, 'cause you can make it right.  
You can shoot me straight to the top,  
Give me love and take all I've got to give.  
Baby I'll be tough, too much is not enough, no.  
I can ride your heart till it breaks.  
Oh, I've got what it takes, remember my name._

 _I'm gonna live forever.  
I'm gonna learn how to fly high.  
I feel it coming together,  
People will see me and cry._

 _I'm gonna make it to heaven.  
Light up the sky like a flame.  
Fame.  
I'm gonna live forever.  
Baby, remember my name…"_

….

Hours later deep into the night, Spencer's bed became the sleeping place for Aria as she peacefully laid with her small frame underneath the sheets and the pillow being the soft carrier for her head. Spencer takes a drink out of her cold water bottle before she places it on her night stand and rolls over on her back as she stares up at the ceiling, hearing nothing but Aria's quiet breathing and her own heartbeat. Spencer lets out a long breath before she turns her head to the left to glance over at Aria. Her eyes focus on her for what feels like eternity until Spencer scoots in close behind the sleeping brunette with her arm propped up, resting her face in her hand as she peeks down at the covers and watches Aria's body rise and gradually fall in a serenely cycle. Almost like a trance that Spencer can't peel her eyes away from.

 _Rise…._

 _Fall…._

 _Rise…._

 _Fall…._

 _Rise…._

 _Fall…._

"You said that on the first day of art, when I described your appearance in front of the class, that's when you knew you were going to fall in love with me." Spencer whispered ever so quietly onto dead ears that was far, far away from this world. Spencer gazes at Aria's face, knowing that she was fast asleep. But that's what she wanted. To make sure Aria was long gone before she spoke about what was on her mind. "You said that you couldn't help it because you're a hopeless romantic and that what I did was like it came out of a book."

Spencer lightly shakes her head.

"It was not like how it is in the movies, shows or books. I _did not_ fall in love with you at first glance. I still remember my first impression and thoughts about you. Like when you purposely left me outside in the freezing cold and pouring rain. As I walked _all_ around to the front of the college house, I told myself that if I saw you that night, I was going to slap you." Spencer reflects as she continued to stare at Aria, "And not just _any_ slap, I wanted to inflict some serious pain. I was going to cock my hand back and smack that stupid grin off your face. That stupid grin that left me in torrential rain, barefoot and cold. Throughout the entire walk, I imagined myself doing it at least 20 times back to back relentlessly...but only reason I didn't do it is because I knew you would fight back and I would lose my sponsors. That was the _only_ _reason_ because I did not like you _at all_. Even when we became roommates and changed our classes in January, I didn't feel anything for you. No spark, no butterflies…nothing. You were just a slightly annoying person I decided to room with because I did not want to be around Sarah any longer."

Spencer's eyebrows frowned as she began to chew on the inside of her bottom lip.

"If someone would have told me that, by nearly the end of the semester, I would be holding you in my arms, at 1 am, pouring my heart out to you, I would have told them to get the hell out of my face because they are obviously delusional….but dammit, Aria Montgomery…." Spencer pulls back a hanging strand of hair from Aria's face and smoothes it back behind her ear, "I adore everything about you. Just when I think I have an idea, a grip on what my feelings are, all I have to do is see you smile at me once and I forget the my whole train of thought. That same _stupid grin_ I hated is the same _stupid grin_ I plead to see at least once a day."

The brunette takes a quiet sigh as she looks down at her hands.

"There's the word that people say when they feel such things but, sadly, I'm afraid to say it. Maybe it's way too soon. Maybe you won't feel the same. Maybe because I don't physically want to say it, putting it out in the universe as fact because I know that if I say it… _if I say that I love you_ …" Spencer studies over Aria's face with her mouth beginning to sag at the corners, holding back the emotions she feels coming, "I'm going to have so much more to lose..." Spencer takes a deep breath, looking at the air past Aria, "But tonight…holding you, dancing with you, just being one together in the darkness…I said it." Spencer nodded to herself, "It was during the chorus of the second song we danced to, _Unthinkable_ by Alicia Keys."

"I was wondering maybe, could I make you my baby?" Spencer softly sings the song as she stroked Aria's hair, "If we do the unthinkable, would it make us look crazy? If you ask me, _I'm ready..._ " Spencer eyes flicker onto Aria's lips before she bit down on her own, "At that moment today on March 30th, 2015 at 7:42pm….I told myself I loved you and that I am madly in love with you. How I know the time? It's because I had opened my eyes around then and saw the time on the oven glowing the green number 7:42." Spencer softly smiles to herself but her smiles fades as quickly as it came as she pondered her words, "...I would be lying to you if I didn't tell you that I'm _fucking terrified_ …because I now know that I cannot be without you. Just thinking about what I would sacrifice just to be near you scares me because I know that I would do it."

Spencer closes her eyes regrettably, feeling the reality of her words, knowing how deep she has gotten herself.

"We both have been here before. We both came out of long-term relationships. We both know what happens when you tell someone you love them. You either stay with them until the end…." Spencer opens her eyes, "or you leave them. I don't want that to be us, Aria. I-"

Right as Spencer was about to finish her sentence, Aria shifts in her sleeping position, moving from her back towards Spencer to them being face to face. Spencer freezes for a moment, not knowing if Aria was about to wake up or if she was still fast asleep. Holding her breath for a few seconds, Spencer realizes that Aria is in fact still sleeping. The brunette slowly lowers her head onto her pillow, staring intently on Aria as they both now lay facing each other.

"I need you to promise me that you will always try and never give up on me." Spencer whispers more delicately than before, barely audible, "I need you to promise that you will fight for me because…." A single tear falls from Spencer's eye and rolls down her cheek as her voice begins to crack, "there will be times that I won't be able to fight for myself." The tear is accompanied with another tear as Spencer lets them fall, not wiping them away, "You've seen me as Spencer your friend, Spencer your roommate, Spencer your colleague, Spencer your girlfriend…but you have yet to see as Spencer _the_ _Hastings_. And as the weeks go by and time starts crunching down, you will see what makes me a Hastings and the things I have to go through to uphold my status, my wants, and my name. And I'm scared that somehow….that might drive you away. And-and I pray it doesn't because then I'll have no one. No one in this world that could understand me the way you do." Spencer chin begins to tremble as her vision begins to become blurry. She reaches for Aria's hand, rested beside her and holds her, "You're _the most beautiful_ , _astonishing, gorgeous, selfless, and inspiring_ person I've ever laid my eyes on and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have you beside me….I love you, Aria Marie Montgomery." Spencer brings Aria's hand to her face and places a kiss before holding her close, " _Please_ …." Spencer's voice shakes as she looks studies Aria's face, "Please don't ever leave me…"

Spencer lays still, not uttering another word as she waits. Although she knows Aria is sound asleep and didn't hear a word she said, she waits as if something was supposed to happen. Taking the moment of spilling herself, Spencer closes her eyes, taking in a breath of air.

"I would never leave you, Spencer…." A groggy, soft voice escapes from Aria's lips.

Spencer's heart stops abruptly with her eyes flickering open in fear, "You're awake?" Aria nods her head in response making Spencer become extremely anxious, "H-how much did you hear?"

"The part when you said I was beautiful and that you loved me _.'_ " Aria slowly opens her eyes to see Spencer face sagging in exhaustion with tears staining her checks. Her hand leaves Spencer's hold and rises up to wipe away the works of sadness from her eyes, "I love you, Spencer Jill Hastings and I would _never_ leave you." Spencer's head bows into Aria's hand, leaning in with the weight of her shadow slumping her over as she begins to softly cry. Aria arises up out of her laying position and wraps her arms around Spencer, bringing her down back into the bed with her as Spencer's face buries into her shoulder. " _Shhh…It's okay, it's okay._ " Aria soothes the brunette in her arms, "I'm not going anywhere without you."

 **Ok, let's all take a moment to wipe away the tears we just shed, myself included.**

 **A Certain two people just said the "L" word! And no I'm not talking about Lasagna.**

 **This is a pivotal moment in their relationship seeing that now is the time where support really counts. Spencer taking on the world and soon to be going to dinners, ceremonies, and other formal functions, she's going to need her little Aria to stand by her side. Will Aria be able to handle all the demand from Spencer's side when the time comes?**

 _ **I wonder...**_

 **How did you guys enjoy this chapter? :D**

 **When I write these chapters, I imagine each moment as an actual scene. What angle are the viewers seeing everything from? Whose narrative am I perceiving? Is there background acoustics or just the silence of air? What are the facial reactions? What's the atmosphere? And everything in-between. Music, specifically is a huge part of our lives. All of us.**

 **You know when you're watching a show/movie, a certain scene is happening and then this song in the background begins playing and it just fits it so perfectly that it gives the scene a life of its own? It's like that song was made for that scene or vice versa? I** _ **love**_ **that. I spend a good chunk of my free time editing videos so finding the perfect songs for videos is something I find fun yet challenging. With that being said, I wanted to see if I could try to bring that "perfect scene" into my stories. However, it's pretty hard when you're writing it and not watching it. So, I ask for this chapter, the scenes with the music in background, try reading it over with the actual song playing and let me know if it has actually changed the way you "saw" the scene or if it didn't. That will tell me for future references if I shall continue or not. You don't have to but just a suggestion for your reading experience. :)**

 **1** **st** **song when Spencer and Aria were on the ground: "Surrender (Piano Version)" by Digital Daggers**

 **2** **nd** **song when Spencer and Aria were slow dancing: "Fame" by Mree**

 **-And to plug in some good old fashion advertisement. I am currently working on another Sparia fic called Memory already out and in progress. It's much different then the scenery you guys are used to here but I think it's worth a try. The whole "stranger in the city" vibe is where the fic is surrounded with and I think that maybe...just maybe...you guys might enjoy it. -**

 **Welp, I hope you guys are ready for the next chapters-**

 _ **Wait.**_

 **Who am I kidding?**

 **With what's coming in the next chapters, I know you won't be...**

 **:)**


	24. Chapter 24: Accelerated Heartbeat

**I think it's kind of humorous how when this fic started, chapters were about 1k-2k words at a time. As I continue to write, I noticed that I've unconsciously started making chapters longer, ranging at least with 3,000 words to –like this chapter for example- 7,000 words. If I wrote a 1k-2k chapter now, I feel like I'm cheating and/or being lazy.**

 **You guys are physically witnessing my growth as a writer :D How about them apples?**

CHAPTER #24: Accelerated Heartbeat

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Drifting ever so slowly into consciousness, the faint sounds of shuffling eases into Aria's ear, waking her from her night's sleep. The small brunette takes her time opening her eyes, trying to adjust to the vision in front of her until she realizes she's not the only one awake.

"Good morning," Aria softly mumbles loud enough to get Spencer's attention. The brunette turns around mid-water consumption to see Aria stretching out of her sheets.

" _Hey._ Good morning to you, sleepy head." Spencer smiles lovingly before she tightens the cap on her water bottle and turns her body in her chair to face Aria. "How was your sleep?"

"Comfortable." Aria half-sleepily responds back as she leans up and rests her weight on her elbows, "I love sleeping in your room if you haven't noticed."

"Really?" Spencer question more dramatically than usual as she rests a pondering hand on her chin, "That would explain things. I always thought that you had short term memory and just forgot where your room was."

Aria reaches over underneath her pillow in searching for her phone. She squinted her eyes at the brightness of her screen trying to read the time. "It's 6:15. How long have you been awake?

"Not long. I just woke up about... _20 mins ago?_ " Spencer spins around in her chair to face her computer with all kinds of tabs and windows open from her working session, "Decided to finally knock out these assignments."

"How far are you?"

"Coasting pretty well. At this rate, I could finish up next week's assignments today."

Aria lazily extend her legs off the edge of the bed, "You have that energy?" The brunette yawns, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, oddly." Spencer casually answers as she leans forward towards the computer screen, "It's like a motivational burst of energy of now or never so...work it is."

"Well, I'm proud of you." Aria shuffles her way out of the room in the direction of the bathroom for her morning routine. "Maybe you can do my work!" she calls over her shoulder in the hallway.

"At this pace," Spencer responds in a mumble as she opens another window tab, "I probably could."

...

"In the early 20th Century, there developed an art movement called " _Expressionism,_ " in which the artist was more interested in expressing an emotional experience and less focused on depicting realism. The art work could be a record of what the artist was feeling at the time of making it, and it could also bring about emotional reactions in the viewer." The art professor's German accent fills the classroom as he walks over to his computer at his podium to begin his demonstration to the class, "A small while ago, we took a look at art by Matisse, Picasso, Lichtenstein, Chagall and others to see how these modern masters showed emotion in their art. Let's come back and revisit this issue and to take a look at a different group of artists and see what approaches they've taken in order to depict emotion in their art. One thing that we're seeing more this time is the way the artists have made the subject's hands an integral part of the expression of the emotion."

With the professor lecturing about their latest section information, Aria's face rested in her palm as she looked at her notebook. From afar, it would seem as if Aria was taking notes but up close, she was sketching a random doddle through the looks of a child. Being sucked into her mindless drawings, her eyes flickered up to Spencer sitting beside her. Opposite of her approach, Aria sees Spencer fully attentive and submerged into the professor's teachings. Peeking over at her notebook, Aria sees a full layout page of notes Spencer is scrambling down in front of her. The brunette looks back at her book and sees a few terms jotted down but a side-tale of what seems like a recreation of Snow White: a forest full of furry creatures within her notebook page that Aria just drew out of boredom. Comparing notes, Aria debates whether she is really slacking during class or if Spencer is really going extra on the notes today. Either way, if there is something important she missed, she'd just copy from Spencer so she shrugs the concern off and goes back to her furry drawings.

" _The Scream_ was painted by a famous artist who goes by the name of Edvard Munch." The professor continued on as he shows his students the famous painting through his projector, showing on the whiteboard, "He created four versions of this painting and all of them had a pale man screaming with his hands on the face. All these paintings of Edvard Munch were sold for millions of dollars at various auctions. Can anyone tell me what the emotion Munch was portraying other than the obvious screaming or just any opinion you have in general?"

The students of the art class sit silently, hesitating to be the first person to say something to start the painting discussion as Aria keeps her head down and continues on with her drawings along with Mackenzie and Alex who keep their eyes low as well.

"In his diaries, the artist Edvard Munch admits that he struggled with insanity not only on a personal level during his life, but also through his family. In fact, his sister was hospitalized for insanity at the time _The Scream_ was painted in 1893. If given a thorough enough analysis, the personal lives of most artists are not perfect portraits of happiness." Everyone, including Aria looks up at the speaker who decided to take a stab at the painting. Sitting there with her pen tapping her notebook, Spencer bites her bottom lip, squinting her eyes in thought as she observed the artwork in front of her, mixing facts along with her opinion, "What makes Edvard Munch a different kind of artist is that he shows us an honest, even ugly, glimpse of his inner troubles and feelings of anxiety through his painting, putting more importance on personal meaning than on technical skill or "beauty," a traditional goal of art."

Dr. Hasleberger nods his head and softly smiles at Spencer's reflection, feeling that she had a sense of understanding from what they've been learning so far along with her own logic of ideology, "I never fall short of fascination when it comes to you, Ms. Hastings. You definitely have had the best explanation towards this painting out of all my classes. I would say I'm impressed but…me feeling that emotion is a daily thing with you." Aria glances over at Mackenzie and Alex sitting at their table in surprise as they raise their eyebrows in amazement back.

"You know…" Spencer takes her tapping pen and bites on the cap, resting back on her chair as she switches her eyes from the painting to her professor, "Along with the slaughterhouse, the very mental asylum where Munch's own sister was hospitalized was very nearby, too, causing me and probably everyone else to wonder: Who is the subject in _The Scream_? While it seems obvious that the painting is a self-portrait of the artist himself, due to the ambiguity of the subject's gender, the sexless person depicted may actually be a working combination of both Edvard Munch and his sick sister, hospitalized in the asylum nearby." The words fly seamlessly out of Spencer's mouth with some swiftness to it. With no pausing or fillers as in _like_ or _uhm_ , entire paragraphs roll of Spencer's tongue as if she was reading all her information from a piece of paper. The professor and other classmates take note of this, wondering to themselves how was she able to formulate such words and string them into a sentence to make sense. Stopping her drawings, Aria eyes Spencer and pays attention to Spencer's body language: Relaxed but focused, interactive, and just a little bit of the tapping her feet is occurring more than usual. Seeing this sight makes Aria smile out of being proud for her and how much she is making everyone else look incompetent.

"I love how you just critiqued, analyzed, and then hit with your own question to this art piece all in the same thought-process." Dr. Hasleberger crosses his arms as he walks to the side of his podium and leans against it in awe. Being a professor, he's used to students being silent and merely agreeing with everything he says but to have someone like Spencer who actively engages in conversation makes his teaching days' worth while, "For those who don't know, yes, Edvard's sister was admitted at the time of the painting. Great catch, Spencer-"

"I also believe that the true meaning behind the title of Edvard Munch's "soul painting" _may_ very well come back to the decidedly ugly, even hideous, sounds of living beings undergoing both physical and emotional suffering in the modern age." The brunette cuts her off her professor from moving on as she continues on with her rambling with seemingly no brakes, "Which, to add, _The Scream_ was painted right _before_ the Expressionists and other artists of the early twentieth century made it a trend to put a focus on the expression of their inner feelings and emotions through their art rather than displaying how realistically they could paint an image or object. That's one of the reasons he has gotten his popularity."

Aria –with her eyes now glued onto Spencer- takes in the entire conversation, noticing that the brunette is so warped into her own world that it feels like only she and the professor are in the room and no one else exists with them. And with the looks of the professor, he looks like he's thoroughly enjoying the back and forth discussion.

"Now, sometimes I hate abstract because it's hard to understand in words. Me as a person, I have the need to cognize everything whether it's something simple or might be in need of having time taken out to comprehend it but I _have_ to conquer it, you know?" Spencer places her pen behind her ear and reaches for her water bottle, unscrewing the top, "But, on the contrary, what I like about it is that it depicts something important and unexplainable which is unique because sometimes as humans, we can't find-we don't know the _words_ we need to explain something."

"Tell me, Spencer." Dr. Hasleberger straightens up and walks back to his computer, "From your opinion, what do you take in an interpretation of emotion from the works of say…" He changes the painting from Munch to two other famous paintings and looks up at Spencer with curious, twinkling eyes who await words that he is interested to hear be said, "David Alfaro Siqueiros and Vik Muniz for example?"

...

Leaving the drawn out class for the day, waiting for the hallway to clear out and for everyone to disappear, Aria holds Spencer up before she has to run to her next class.

" _Hey_. How..." Aria reaches for Spencer's hand, softly massaging it in-between her hands, "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" Spencer responds with a slight head tilt, wondering why she's being forced stagnant when she could be on the path to her next destination.

"I just wanted to make sure. You seem so different from yesterday."

"Well, wouldn't you if the girl you love loved you back?" Spencer face lightens up with a smirk, making Aria grin in delight. With her faded memory of her waking up in the middle of the night, she didn't forget the highlights of what happened following up. From Spencer's exhaustion to quietly laying on the floor and the slow dancing, Spencer mumbling unintelligible words woke up the brunette right when Spencer said she loved her. It's been so long since she's felt such feelings for someone else that it almost felt so surreal. Half of her regrets stem that such moment happened with her eyes half closed and her vocabulary limited. Nonetheless, she didn't forget. Taking Spencer's word, Aria reaches up for Spencer and gives her a small yet sweet kiss that lingered on for a second longer than usual. "Come on, you don't want to be late for Dr. Adams' class."

"But I don't want to leave you..." Aria softly whines as she holds onto Spencer's hand tighter, swaying side to side with her lips extended in a pout.

"Oh so you _do_ want to get bitched at in front of the class today for coming in late?" Spencer arches an eyebrow as she looks down at Aria like an apprehensive parent.

"No...But-"

"But nothing. C'mon let's go." Spencer spins Aria towards the front doors of the building and forcibly pushes her as Aria makes herself heavy with resistance.

" _Ughhh_. Can't I just skip today? We have a quiz." Aria cries out as Spencer overpowers to the front doors, opening them with one hand as she continues to push with her other.

"Skipping is for delinquents and losers. Are you a loser?"

"Yes!"

"Good to know. You're still going to class, let's go." Spencer continues to steer Aria in her needed direction with Aria's whining sounding like a car engine.

...

"Aria and Alex?" A cafe barista comes from around the front counter and over to the girls' table handling their drinks.

"Thank you." Both girls respond kindly as they grab their respectable order.

"You're welcome. Enjoy."

"But _yeah_ , it was pretty bad. I've always seen her on top of things so to see her so...overwhelmed," Aria's eyes sag downwards as she opens her straw out of its cover, "I felt incredibly hopeless that I couldn't do anything to help."

Alex sighs, shaking her head as she pokes her straw through the lid of her drink, "I've been telling her that she needs to slow down. She's spreading herself so much that she's not gonna have time to piss in peace without having to run out the door."

"But then today..." Aria leans forward against the opposite side of the table from Alex, hushing her voice, "it's like she's a whole new person. After last night when we exchanged our ' _I love you's'_ , it's like she hit the restart button. She woke up extremely early, did a whole paper, _overtook_ the class-"

"Cleared her skin, made her hair shinier, raised her GPA to 5.0, gave her everlasting knowledge from the tree of Eden, gained a 7th sense, and payed off her parents' debt." Alex smirks as she sucks on her straw from the corner of her mouth, "Love. _It did all that._ Such a powerful drug it is."

Aria giggles at Alex's sense of humor before she takes a sip of her drink, "But maybe it's just nothing? Maybe that's how she operates. Needs to break down so she can collect herself."

"So now you guys are going to be all domesticated and all lovey-dovey all the time?"

"Eh. Not all the time."

" _Gross_."

Aria chuckles with a tilt of her head and squint of her eye at Alex's disgusted face, "Why gross?"

"Because you guys are gonna start with the gross name calling,"

 **Aria walks into the kitchen to grab herself an ice cold bottle of water. Heading in just to leave, Aria makes a double take at Spencer's phone left on the call screen sitting on the kitchen counter. Taking a peek at the display, Aria sees that Spencer's cell has been running for 45 minutes with her nowhere to be found. Aria picks up the phone and presses it to her ear, "Hello?" Hearing silence on the other end, Aria realizes that Spencer had probably left her phone running, thinking she hung up. So, out of the goodness of her heart, she hangs up for Spencer, places the phone back on the counter, and waltzes back to her room.**

…

" _ **Fuck!"**_

 **Aria turns away from her laptop and looks to the door where she heard the distressed noises coming from the opposite side. She jumps off her bed and opens her door, poking her head out to see Spencer looking at her phone. "What happened?"**

" **My call was dropped." Spencer replies back distressed as she looks between a piece of paper and her phone.**

" **Oh, you were on it?" Aria steps out into the hallway with her arms crossed, "I just thought you had it on by mistake."**

 **Spencer turns to face the smaller brunette, slightly confused on what she was saying as she put the phone up to her ear, "Huh-what?"**

" **I hung up your phone."**

 **Silence sits between the girls for a painful five long seconds as Spencer blinks in disbelief at what she just heard. She slowly removes the phone from her ear and hangs up the call, not breaking eye contact with Aria. Aria, on the other hand, still stands with her arms crossed, not understand the severity of Spencer's dilemma.**

" **Aria?" Spencer voice softens as her eyes shift down to the ground with her feet creeping ever so carefully in Aria's path, "Darling?** _ **Light of my life.**_ **" Spencer looks back up at the unbothered brunette as she continues to inch closer to her down the hallway, "That was AT &T. I was bouncing around from person to person and then placed on hold and was in-line to be answered. Do you know how **_**long**_ **I have been waiting? To be answered?" Spencer asks with a strained smile painted on like a person held hostage that had to pretend that everything was alright, although her smile held nothing happy but pain and anguish instead.**

" **About 45 minutes total." Aria nods, still not picking up on quite evident things in front of her like Spencer's twitching left eye or the fact that Spencer's hands are slowly forming into hands that strangle.**

"… **.** _ **You minion of fucking darkness**_ **."**

"And being all gross touchy-feely,"

 **As Spencer rests against the couch, watching reruns of** _ **The King of Queens**_ **, she suddenly feels a pair of arms hang around her neck from behind. She softly smiles to herself as Aria leans over, gently tucking Spencer's hair behind her ear and lowers her voice to a mere, tender whisper,**

" **Eat all of the honey Teddy Grahams again after I** _ **just**_ **brought them and we're fucking done. Do you hear me, you godless heathen?" Aria tilts her head to see the side of Spencer's face with a smile before she places a kiss on her cheek and pats the top of her head, walking away. "Glad we had this talk!"**

"And gross unnecessary couple stuff." Alex hints with a small wine to her voice as she begins to rip into her banana nut muffin in front of her.

 **Deep within the night, Spencer and Aria sleep comfortably in their usual spot in Spencer's bed. However, Spencer is the only one asleep while Aria stares up at the ceiling inside of the dark room. Racking her mind back and forth, she feels that she couldn't take the aching anymore and had to wake up Spencer to let her know what is bothering her.**

" **Spencer…Spencer." Aria lightly shakes the sleeping brunette from behind. "** _ **Spencer**_ **."**

" _ **Hmm**_ **." A soft groan escapes Spencer's mouth as she tries not to wake up and leave the dream she's in.**

" **I…There's something on my mind that I…I just can't hold anymore and I have to say it. I've been thinking about this all day and now I can't sleep."**

 **Spencer hears the seriousness in Aria's voice and wakes up fully, turning over to face her so she can hear whatever she has to say. "What? What's wrong?"**

 **Aria closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, not knowing how or even where to start the amount of rambling going on in her mind, "I need you to really listen to me on this."**

" **I'm here, I'm here." Spencer reaches for Aria's hand in support and concern of what Aria could possibly say, "What's going on?"**

" **At first, I thought this was crazy but as time went on…I'm really starting believe it's true."**

" **What's true? What happened?"**

 **Aria opens her eyes and stares at Spencer with a heavy sag to her mouth in distress, "** _ **Everyone**_ **, all the kids that live in the Cul-de-sac on** _ **Ed, Edd n Eddy**_ **are dead. The whole show, the whole neighborhood is actually purgatory and all the kids have died."**

 **Spencer stares back at Aria, waiting for the realization of Aria's words. Not knowing what the brunette was trying to say because she's still somewhat asleep, Spencer lays there staring at Aria motionless. "You woke me up, had my heart racing…** _ **for a TV show theory?**_ **"**

" **But listen! Listen to where I go with this!" Aria holds onto Spencer's hand tightly as she eagerly pushes Spencer's to listen to her in her time of need, "First of all, the kids already look like they're dead. If you think about it, everyone has this off color skin tone and blue/green colored tongues, like corpses. Then you have the fact that there are no adults in the show. They're mentioned, but never seen. You do see vague silhouettes of adults on a few occasions, but they never move, like that's not creepy or anything." Spencer scoffs with a roll of her eyes as she yanks her hand out of Aria's grasp and turns back around with a huff. Aria leans in close behind the brunette, still continuing on with the theory,** **"** **This would also explain why the setting of the show is so hard to pinpoint. That's because each kid came from a different period in American history. Like for example, Eddy was born in New York and was living during the Depression era of the 1930's-"**

" **Aria. Go to sleep." Spencer groans as she shuts her eyes tightly, trying to find a comfortable spot on her pillow to fall back asleep.**

" _ **But look!**_ **When-"**

" _ **No.**_ **You know I have to get up extra early for practice. I'm not doing this with you right now. Go to sleep."**

" **Fine." Aria sighs annoyed as she feasts her eyes on the grumpy brunette lying next to her, "I'm sure there's** _ **someone**_ **out there that would be interested in what I have to say." Aria shoves Spencer's back in protest before she dramatically flails out of the bed, thrashing the sheets everywhere to give Spencer a hard time as she grabs her phone and hops out of the bed and out the room.**

" _Ehh_. I wouldn't say we're _gross_ but we are more like frenemies lovers. We're friends but we get sick of each other but we're in love at the same time." Aria leans back in her chair and takes another drawn out sip of her drink.

"You guys are sick of each other _already_?" Alex questions munching her muffin through the side of her mouth, not sure if Aria was serious or not. "Didn't you guys just made it official like a month ago or something?"

"Yes but she has no respect for my feelings whatsoever." Aria leans forward again this time with more animation this time, "The most _simplest_ thing, she makes so difficult. For everybody."

 **Aria bursts into Spencer's room without knocking, wondering what her fellow brunette was doing since she was bored with nothing to do –although, she should be studying but who wants to do that?**

" **Whatcha** _ **dooooing**_ **?" Aria twirls and falls onto her back on Spencer's bed as Spencer sits beside her, watching something on her computer screen.**

" **Nothing much. Just watching this…" Spencer absentmindedly answers with her fingernail tapping against her bottom tooth as she pays attention to her show playing out in front of her. Aria scoots in nosily and stretches her neck to see what Spencer was watching that has her so warped in concentration.**

" _ **Did I hear you came all this way just to get a good seat?"**_

" _ **Two seats, actually." The brunette pulls out an ID card out of her back pocket, showing it to the girl taking information at a table set up, "I'm, uh, here with Julian. We booked a room." she smiles at the girl with a fixed and unblinking stare as she fiddles with the card in her hand, "I really want to thank you for sending the good doctor to my rescue."**_

 _ **Janel softly smiles to herself in awkwardness before she lifts a hand to innocently defend herself, "I only called him because you-"**_

" _ **Oh, no, Janel, we-we know why you called him." Troian bends down and rests her elbows against the table, putting a hand to the side of her face in secret as she whispers with a mocking smile, "He gives really good intervention."**_

" **What the hell!" Aria angrily gasps, slamming Spencer's laptop closed, barely missing Spencer's finger by milliseconds.**

" _ **What the hell?!**_ **" Spencer yanks back her hand, yelling with more authority than the smaller brunette as she shoots a death stare in Aria's direction, "What is wrong with you?!"**

" **What is wrong with** _ **me**_ **?! What is wrong with** _ **you**_ **?!" Aria points her finger into Spencer's chest with aggression right back, "** **We're supposed to be binging** _ **Pretty Little Liars**_ **together! You can** **'t just watch ahead, I fucking** _ **trusted**_ _ **you**_ _ **!**_ **"**

" **The times I do want to watch, you don't want to!" Spencer defends herself to Aria's random and unnecessary flip out, "Do you think I'm going to wait when I could be finding out who the hell A is?"**

" **We're both are supposed to be finding out** _ **together!**_ **"**

" **And we will!"**

" **Not if you're episodes before me we won't! Now I gotta catch up to where you are!" Aria huffs out as she jumps out of Spencer's bed and back out the door in utter frustration, "** _ **God**_ **, Spencer, I've been nothing but good to you and this is how you treat me."**

" **If it makes it any better, I'm leaning towards my own suspect." Spencer calls out as slides her laptop back up to her thigh and opens to go back to where she was rudely interrupted, "I know that Janel was the 1** **st** **A but I'm starting to think that Tammin is running this shit now. She's "** _ **blind**_ **" again after her surgery?** _ **Please**_ **."**

 **Aria's head pops from behind Spencer's door** **"And now you're making** _ **theories**_ **without me?! You might as well just go ahead and poison me with all this betrayal you've been doing behind my back!"**

"Wow. I stand corrected." Alex pouts her lips after hearing everything Spencer and Aria do behind closed door while nobody is around, "You guys aren't gross, just a tad bit crazy."

" _Crazy in love_." Aria gushes ever so proudly with her hands extended over the table, "I'm just so! _Ah!_ I feel like a new woman!"

"Ok, _now_ you're getting gross."

"And you need to get laid." Aria laughs with Alex shamelessly nodding with agreement.

"Mm!" The lightbulb pops in Alex's mind, steering them in a different path of the conversation, "Speaking of. Have you guys got acquainted with…?"

"No." Aria starts giggling as Alex slyly smirks at her, "Not yet, Alexandra."

"I'm just saying…" Alex surrenders with her arms crossed, leaning back, "I wanted to see if the money we spent was worth it."

"We'll see..." Aria mimics the brunette's posture as she too leans back into her chair, "We will see."

…

Arriving back at her dorm well into the evening after her run of the mill day, Aria unlocks her door and is greeted by a fresh smell of Pine sol and a lit white scented candle burning on top of the kitchen counter. Slowly closing and locking the door behind her, Aria examines her dorm living room and kitchen.

"Hey, babe." Spencer walks out of her room, swinging on her jacket with a few papers held in her hand.

"Hey, babe." Aria hangs her keys on the hanger and walks to the brunette, giving her a quick kiss. "You-uh-you cleaned up?"

"Yeah, I had the time on my hands so why not? But _now_ …." She grabs her laptop bag from the couch and places her paperwork inside before she hoists it over her shoulder, "Now I gotta go."

Aria's head turns suddenly as she stops her walk into the kitchen, caught off guard by Spencer's words, " _Go?_ I just got back."

"Well…" Spencer sighs as she bends down and pulls the back of her shoe with her finger to slip her heel of her right foot in, "that sounds like a personal problem, now does it? I gotta go and get ready for my meeting-"

"But your meeting isn't until 8." Aria furs her eyebrows and crosses her arms out in front of her as she watches Spencer put herself together before she walks out the door.

"If you had let me finish," Spencer responds back with slight annoyance of being cut off as she puts on her other shoe and stands up to face the brunette standing confused, "you would have also heard that I'm going out with some of the members from union and then we're all going to head to the meeting together."

"You're leaving right now?"

"Yep." Spencer pulls her phone out of her pocket and turns it on, checking the time she has, "They're outside waiting."

"Why don't you just skip the meetup and spend time with me," A smile spreads slowly on Aria's face as she sways towards Spencer with devious eyes, " _then_ you can go to your meeting at 8." She tries to work her art of seduction as she wraps her arms around Spencer's waist and stands in close.

"Aria. _They're waiting_."

"Tell them you have a change of plans."

Spencer stares down at Aria smiling up at her. With a moment of silence, right when Aria had believed she gotten her way, Spencer peels her arms off her instead, "Bye," She bends down and kisses the brunette on her cheek, "See you around 11."

Aria stands bothered and rejected as she watches Spencer swipe her keys from their hanger, unlock the door, and walk out without even looking back at her. With the silence filling the room along with the scent of fresh and clean linens coming from the candle Spencer lit earlier, Aria nods to herself with a pout as she turns on her heels to the kitchen, "See you at 11."

…

With hours passed by, Aria wonders aimlessly around the dorm with nothing to do.

 _I should finish up some episodes from my shows or read….nah don't feel like it._

 _Nobody to really call or text…_

 _Nobody to hang out with…._

 _Well…I could always eat…._

 _Great. Nothing to eat._

 _Ugh. Boredom sucks._

Taking the time to admire Spencer's job of cleaning, Aria notices that Spencer just didn't sweep up and tackle the little things. She actually _cleaned_. With bleach. The living room, kitchen, bathroom, her room and even Aria's room, she cleaned it thoroughly. Mentally applauding the brunette, Aria slowly opens Spencer's room and stands in the doorway with her body leaned against the frame. Her eyes examine around for nothing in particular when she decides to walk in. Normally, Aria wouldn't go into Spencer's room when she's not there just out of privacy and respect, however tonight, Aria's lack of anything to do surpasses all rules.

Waltzing around the small room, Aria noisy opens Spencer's closet and looks at all of her clothing that she had organized by type, color, and material. She glides her hands over the fabrics before a scheming smile comes across her face with an idea formulating.

…

"After the quick break, we're going to talk about plans for possible upcoming events that will be open to one-time PPU attendees as well as full voting members." Damian, the speaker of the union, stands at the podium in front of the room, looking down at the program that everyone has received and have been using as a guideline since the meeting has started, "Like for example, _"Meet the PPU Board"_ which is a social event with various academic departments and campus organizations invited. Press Secretary will coordinate with President and VP Internal of GPA. Another is the speaking workshops for PPU members, possibly partner with CWIC and the Fox Leadership Program. These are things we will touch on and continue on with tonight's agenda after the break." Damian shuffles his papers in his hands looks out to the board of about of 30 people dressed in presentable and professional attire sitting at attention, "Everyone take five."

All the union members collect themselves as they rise out of their seats and begin to softly socialize with one another within the room. Spencer leans back and stares at her computer screen holding the amount of notes she had jotted down from the first half of the meeting and the things she's responsible to take care of seeing that everyone was given a position to contribute and work on. Watching everyone mumble to each other as they began to stretch their limbs from sitting for so long, Spencer looks at her phone sitting on silent next to her laptop and decides to call Aria to make sure she's okay and that all is well with her.

 _Ring…._

 _Ring…._

 _Ri-_

"Hello?"

"Hey, short stuff." Spencer softly speaks as she smiles and leans back into her seat, "We were just granted a five minute break so I decided to call you in the meantime."

" _Me_? How considerate." Aria plays with a strand of her hair aimlessly, "But what about your friends that you ran off with? Can't talk to them?"

"Be quiet." Spencer rolls her eyes as she scans around the room, observing everyone mingle with each other, "What are you doing?"

"Just laying here." Aria rolls from her stomach onto her back as she kicks her legs up in the air, twirling her feet in small circles, "I'm so _bored_ here without you. I hate these long sessions you get dragged into."

"Then call Alex or Ken to keep you company. Or just go to sleep. I should be in by an hour and a half."

"Sleep won't help. _Besides_ , Alex nor Ken can take away this kind of boredom I'm in-the yearning that I have."

"And what kind of yearning is that?" Spencer opens her water bottle and takes a long drawn out sip to hydrate her seemingly dry mouth.

"The yearning of wanting your warm hands and mouth caressing all over my body." At that exact moment, Spencer chokes on her water, garnering concerned looks from her peers. She waves them down silently as she wipes her mouth with Aria smiling to herself, laying on her back on Spencer's bed as she tries to imagine the brunette's face. "I'm just looking at the ceiling, imagining how much better it would be if I were looking up at you on top of me." Seeing where this conversation was going, trying to be as causal as she can, Spencer gets up from her chair and walks over to a corner of the room that is less congested and away from any lurking ears.

"Aria?"

" _Yes, baby?_ "

"You can't do this." Spencer glances over her shoulder nonchalantly to make sure she was by herself before she turns back to the corner of the room, "You can't do that when you know I'm going to be sitting at a meeting."

"Why?" Aria whines into the phone with a slight mock hinted inside, "The thought of me is going to turn your brain into mush, making you useless to your council?"

" _Yes_. Besides," Spencer lowers her voice into a mere whisper as she stares at the yellow/tan colored walls, "I'm already starting to get into those rare moods to begin with."

"Same here. The mood of you biting down on me, smacking my ass, pulling my hair, and every rough and naughty thing in between that." Aria bites her lip cunningly as she continues to look up at the ceiling.

" _You_ …" Spencer groans as she runs her hand through her hair, feeling her senses heighten a bit as she feels cornered into a wall. Literally. "You're a tease." Although she's not face to face with her, Spencer can almost _hear_ the smirk on Aria's face as she talks, knowing that it only takes a few words to make Spencer lose sense of control and for her to gain dominance.

" _And?_ What are you gonna do about it?" Aria flips over back onto her stomach, softly caresses Spencer's pillow with the back of her hand as she pokes her tongue against the inside of her cheek, waiting for an answer from the brunette on the other line. After a moments of silence, Aria cuts in befor Spencer had the opportunity to say anything, "Exactly. _Nothing_. But….I can tell you what _I_ want you to do about it."

"And what is that?" Spencer questions lowly as she does another check over her shoulder to make sure nobody had decided to come her way since her last check around. Instead of hearing a smart remark from Aria, the other line stays silent, making Spencer pull the phone away from her ear to see if the call was still intact, "Hello?"

"I'm right here." Aria responds back ever so casually.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Well…" Spencer slumps her back against the wall so she can keep an eye on everyone while still having the privacy of her conversation, "What is it? What do you want?"

"Curious are we?"

 _There goes that smirk_.

"What is the endgame of this back and forth you're doing?" Spencer wraps her free arm around her waist as she looks down at her shoes, trying to make it appear as if she's having an oh-so-normal conversation, "Are you trying to get me riled up?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Aria states back innocently. With every word, Spencer could see her face more and more vividly in her mind and she knows that she's holding a very conniving look as the phone call continues.

" _Oookay_." Spencer drags out the word with a knowing nod of her head. She looks up and notices that people are starting to settle down again for the second half of the meeting which makes her lean off the wall and begin to end her call, "Well, looks like everyone is getting ready to start again. I'll see you when I'm done."

" _Alright_. I'll be here...waiting for you."

"Oh, I'm sure you will. Bye."

"Bye."

Hanging up the phone, Spencer lets out a deep breath and shakes her head after the direction of the conversation she was not anticipated had just occurred. She makes she her phone is still on silent as she walks back over to her seat and laptop to finish up the rest of the agenda outlined on their papers for the evening.

"Alright, I hope everyone is ready to start back off where we left off," Damian returns back to his stand in front of the room as he readjusts his papers back to the section he was in prior to leaving. "Events. We're looking at about four different kinds for this month strictly dealing with our union. It is not including the other ceremonies that will be going on from the other branches and parties. Now, Rachael has informed me over the break that when it comes to our finances, we-"

Spencer's screen lights up with a text message that catches the corner of her eye.

 _Today 9:48pm_

 _Aria:_ I was going through your closet and I really liked this blouse you had.

 _Aria:_ I hope you don't mind me trying it on. It's a tad bit big on me. Has some length to it.

 _Aria:_ Hm…

 _Aria:_ What do you think?

Spencer squints at her phone in confusion when she gets hit with another message. Immediately upon seeing her screen, Spencer quickly -and as nonchalantly as she could- slides her phone off the table in front of her into her lap. Her fingers went into the display setting and turned her brightness all the way down so peering eyes couldn't see before she took another glance at the message, hoping that her eyes weren't deceiving her. Unfortunately _, or fortunately for her,_ they weren't. Aria had in fact sent a picture of herself laying on Spencer's bed with the camera pointed at such an angle that had cut off the top portion of her face but showed enough of her chest to illustrate that she was wearing Spencer's flowy, lilac sheer blouse opened with nothing else underneath. Feeling a bit paranoid, Spencer locks her phone and tries to play cool since she's surrounded by people from every side. Quietly collecting herself, completely blowing the important factors of the get-together currently being discussed, Spencer coolly looks around to make sure nobody had taken notice of the slight nude she had received. A few seconds of people examination passes before Spencer decides to open her phone again and go back into Aria's text conversation.

 _Today 9:53pm_

 _Spencer_ : I think that you're playing a very dangerous game.

The brunette locks her phone once more, placing it in her lap before she returns her attention back to the speaker at hand so she can catch up to what she had missed due to her lack of concentration.

However, that all goes down the drain again when her phone lights up again seconds later.

 _Aria:_ Have fun at your meeting ;)

Letting her phone lock itself, Spencer looks up, places it faced down next to her computer and scoots in closer to her table. She rubs the lower half of her face, becoming restless as she hears Aria's voice ruminating inside her head.

" **Why? The thought of me is going to turn your brain into mush, making you useless to your council?"**

Useless she was because it was there on out that she couldn't focus 100% on the matters impending without becoming distracted. Every so often she would look at the time on the bottom right hand side of her computer, wishing that 11pm would come or that a miracle would happen and the meeting would end earlier.

….

"Alright, so if we have no more questions…this meeting is adjourned." The key speaker dismisses the crowd and Spencer begins to move with the quickness to collect her papers, notes, and laptop to stash away and skip back to her dorms. With her mind running wild, she is semi-startled when another member approaches her.

"Hey, Spencer."

"Oh-Hey, Gavin." Spencer tucks a hair strand behind her ear before she continues on putting her things into her bag, trying to multitask to get out quicker, "What can I help you with?"

"I just wanted to know since we're the ones really taking care of a few things together that you wanted to quickly go over the-"

" _Oooh, Gavin._ " Spencer sighs out as she swiftly cuts her peer off, knowing exactly where he was going with his gesture,"I'm so sorry but I'm kinda in a hurry? If I can get a raincheck for another time, we can go over all the information we have then." Zipping up her bag, Spencer throws on her jacket as she stands looking at the guy with the most sympathetic look she could put on at the moment.

"Ok…Ok-sure." Gavin looks a bit disappointed at his rejection before he catches onto Spencer's body language/overall appearance and questions himself before he asks out loud, "Are you okay?"

Spencer swings her bag over her shoulder with her water bottle in hand so she could run right out the door after her chat, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're shaking."

Spencer looks down at herself and notices that her hands have a slight tremor to them. Realizing that she is shaking, she smiles to herself and shoves her free hand into her jacket pocket away from Gavin's eyes, "Oh, it's just because of the small draft that we have inside. I don't handle the cold well."

"Yeah, I thought I was the only one freezing during this meeting." Gavin agrees with Spencer's sentiments with a small laugh as he adjusted his standing position, feeling more relaxed.

" _Mhmmm_. Well it was good talking to you but I'll catch you later, okay?" Spencer begins walking away from the union member as she kept her professional smiling face intact.

"Yeah, I'll hit you up tomorrow so we can make plans."

" _Perfect!_ " Closer to the door, Spencer does a final wave before she pushes through and emerges into the hallway leading to the exit doors. She pulls her phone out of her pocket to check the time as her legs continued to walk. _11:03pm._

 _Don't worry, Aria….I'm on my way._

….

Bursting through the doors like a madman, Spencer throws her keys onto the hook, tosses her bag onto the couch, and kicks off her shoes with such speed that you would think she rushed home just to catch a show she was about to be late for. As she wrestled to unbutton her jacket, her eyes catch in the darkness Aria coming out of Spencer's room.

" _Well, well, well._ Look at what we have here..." The smaller brunette gracefully saunters down the small hallway with Spencer's top on, a thin pair of lacey shorts and pure confidence radiating from her body, "What's with the rush, Hastings?"

"How do you want it?" Spencer unbuttons her last set of buttons on her jacket before she slides it off and tosses it onto the couch as well, locking her eyes daringly with Aria's the whole time.

"Excuse me?" Aria's eyebrow arches with fake apprehension as she continues on with the little act she was putting on.

Spencer steps grow closer and closer to Aria as her voice drops and eyes darken as well, " _How. Do. You. Want. It?_ "

Aria ponders the question, cocking her head to the side in thought before she turns back to the brunette now in front of her with an open mouthed smile and narrowed eyes that held her own form of darkness, " _Surprise me_."

 **Hello, there :)**

 **Alright, time for some news...**

 **Different Gazes as we know it is soon to be ending.**

 **BUT! The story will continue with a part 2 book/fic.** **It's not ending right now but it will soon as more chapters come out. See this as a warning that the Season 1 finale of Different Gazes is approaching.** **However, don't freak out. Your Sparia will not end here, I promise you. I just didn't want this fic to be like 200,000+ words with like 50 chapters. I wanted to split it up so it could be organized and clean :)**

 **But, like I mentioned before, I'm not ending it right now. This is just a head up.**

 **You guys have no idea how excited I am for the upcoming chapters.**

 _ **You have no idea.**_

 _ **:)**_

 **But, in the meantime, tell me how you feel! Tell your friends! Read it again! Throw yourself into this void of Sparia!**


	25. Chapter 25: Sexual Dilation

_***Count Olaf's voice***_ **Hello, hello, hello…**

 **Welcome back, my beautiful ray of sunshine. It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Before you burn me at the stake, let me explain myself! I know it's been literally** _ **months**_ **since I've updated and why holds a few reasons actually. One of them being life getting in the way of me actually tackling it. My father has been deployed and it has taken me out of the mood to really update any of my stories. And on the other hand,** _ **I will not lie,**_ **I reeeeeally lost ambition to continue writing this fic. I don't know how but it came randomly one day and I just didn't feel like touching this story with a 10ft pole. And that's real out of character for me because I love this pairing and this story as much as you guys do! But, out of nowhere, I just caught a nasty little bug and that dirty little thing prevented me from doing anything with Different Gazes.**

 _ **And it suuuuucked.**_

 **I don't want to go through that again. I miss you guys too much!**

 **Sophie:** _ ***On if I identify with Spencer***_ **I identify with both Aria and Spencer in different ways, actually. I identify with Aria in the artistic sense of things and with Spencer in the sarcasm/academic way of living. Although I'm not as strict as she is about academics, I'm on the same page scholarly. If you want to know who I am as a person, put all four girls in the show put together and you have me haha.**

 **Anyways, I'm glad people still enjoy this fic. People still read this….r-right? Well, I hope they do because this chapter holds 11 thousand words.**

 **Ahem…Now to the main show…**

 ***Pulls out a megaphone***

 _ **THE FOLLOWING CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER IS RATED MFM FOR**_

 _ **MCFREAKING MATURE**_

 **IF YOU ARE NOT MCFREAKING MATURE OR CANNOT HANDLE TWO FICTIONAL CHARACTERS GETTING IT ON, PLEASE EVACUATE THE PREMISIS IMMEDIATELY. PRESS BACK AND RETURN TO THE FIC WHEN IT IS YOUR TIME TO READ.**

 **READ WHEN ALONE AND NOT AROUND FRIENDS (only if you give both like Sparia), COWORKERS, CLASSMATES, OR FAMILY MEMBERS. YOUR PARENTS WILL NOT APPROVE OF YOU READING THIS** _ **FILTH**_ **.**

 **INTENSE! SMUT! AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

 **TURN ON YOUR COOLING SYSTEM. LIKE NELLY SAID, "IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE."**

 **BUT PLEASE DON'T TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES.**

 **DAMMIT, KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON, HELEN. (if your name is helen, it is just a coincidence seeing that i just randomly chose that name. but seriously, helen….keep your clothes on)**

CHAPTER #25: Sexual Dilation

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

In the middle of the night, the dorm belonging to Spencer and Aria stayed extremely still upon their entrance. With all the lights off and candles extinguished, there showed no sign of life of the girls anywhere. From the kitchen to the living room and even the bathroom, the dorm was deemed spotless from Spencer's tedious cleaning hours prior was she had the place to herself. As a visitor stopping by for a brief stay, you would say their dorm smelled of fresh linen in a beach house on a warm, breezy summer day.

 _Spencer thanks you for that._

Moving farther down the dorm, passing the dark and empty living space, approaching the hallways, the sound of faint, rhythmic thumping along with soft vocals begins to become apparent with every step taken in the direction of Aria's room.

The pressure of both bodies in action causes the bed-frame to push against the headboard, creating knocking sounds against the wall as both Aria and Spencer pant out, their bodies glistening lightly in sweat. Spencer positions herself above the brunette with her forearms pressed into the mattress as she gyrates her hips against the smaller brunette's at a smooth yet calculated pace. Aria's hands glide up and down Spencer's arms, softly moaning, as she throws her head back onto the bed while Spencer slowly goes in and out of her. She spreads her legs widely and wraps them tightly around Spencer's waist locking her in her hold. Spencer leans forward and kisses down on Aria's strained and stretched out neck. The concentration Spencer directed on one specific spot, sucking vigorously on Aria's skin caused Aria to whimper out and graze her nails into Spencer's scalp, combing through her rich brown hair. Deep into the night they lay as Spencer took control, Spencer knew that she would be put in some kind of position of dominance but it was Aria who surprised her with the exact stance of power early on in their nightfall.

 **Aria forcefully lowered Spencer's head into her hands and lovingly kissed her. It was deep and tender with her tongue lightly tracing over her lips, occasionally finding its way inside her mouth. From the moment Spencer barged through the front door to where she was at that very moment, not much has changed except the fact that her presentable, Hastings-like attire was practically ripped open maniacally for Aria's prying fingers to creep over. Her hand slid up her warmed body towards her breast where her fingers very lightly caressed the available skin showed, not covered by Spencer's bra, skimming it with her nails, sending mild shivers through the taller brunette's body. Spencer felt Aria's hand move from her chest and snake down her chest through her open blouse. She spent a few seconds tracing the outline of her navel while they kissed and then, painfully slowly, she felt her hand slipping beneath the elastic of her pants. Her fingers teased her there for a bit, not moving any farther to exploring the area that was so close, where she so desperately needed to be touched. Aria enjoyed this gentle teasing, but eventually Spencer couldn't stand it any longer.**

" **You just can't stop fucking around, can you?" the brunette groaned onto Aria's lips, sharply with a great deal of impatience.**

 **Trailing her eyes downwards, Aria giggled and gripped the waistband of Spencer's pants, tugging on them enticingly as she bit on her bottom lip, "I actually want us to try something…"**

" **Try what?" Spencer breathed out as she started to feel a bit light headed from the rush she was getting. Aria took her time and looked at Spencer up and down before she grabbed her hand, leading her to her room. Spencer's eyes narrowed with immense apprehension as she let Aria lead her, wondering what Aria could possibly be wanting to show her. Whatever it is, she hopes it's worth it because this game Aria has started has been desiring her to do some unpleasant things ever since she's been sitting inside her seat at her meeting. Pulling her into her room before she went to go and dig deep within her closet, Aria craftily pulls out a package that immediately yanks Spencer out of her lust haze and snaps her into a warped reality of disarray.**

" _ **W-wh-wha?**_ **" Spencer has a hard time gulping down her words with her incredibly dry throat as her wide eyes are glued onto the figurine in Aria's hands, "** _ **Where the hell did you get that from, Aria?"**_

" **Alex and I brought it." Aria pouts her lips out indifferently as she looks over at the product with a casual shrug, dismissing Spencer's drastic reaction. "It's of multi wonder. While the receiver receives, the giver also receives as well. It's a win-win for all."**

" **Wait-I'm still on the fact that you and Alex went out and** _ **brought this?!**_ **When did you guys leave-have time to buy that?"**

" **We brought it a few days ago."**

" _ **Aria**_ **…"**

 **Continually ignoring her, Aria alluringly sways slowly towards Spencer in her undid clothing, staring at her with low eyes, "And I want** _ **you**_ **to use** _ **this**_ **…" she bypasses her frontal view and stops behind her, dropping her vocals to a mere whisper as she raised her free hand to coast against Spencer's back, "…** _ **on me**_ **."**

 **Spencer haltingly turns her head to the side to peek at Aria from the corner of her eyes, just to catch a glimpse of the brunette silently giggling to herself before her facial expression changes into faked worry.**

" **Unless, you know,** _ **you can't."**_ **Aria mocks as she starts her drawn-out pace around Spencer, exaggerating her words, "And that's fine if you can't. Not everyone is coordinated and has the skill set to be able to work this. It's nice, though, to know you're one of those people who** _ **can't.**_ **I would have** _ **neeeever**_ **guessed it because you're the** _ **Almighty Spencer Hastings,"**_ **Aria dramatically air quotes as she continues to walks circles around Spencer with the boxed toy in her hand, "Who can do everything and would let no obstacle get in her way but to know that she's one of those who can't perform when needed? Damn, that's pretty sad-"**

 **Spencer snatches the product out of Aria's hand with one hand and grabs her wrist with her other in one fluid motion, pulling her into her. Blindsiding her with the swift movements so quickly, all Aria was able to do was to stare into Spencer's penetrative brown eyes, not uttering a word.**

" _ **Shut up**_ **." Spencer growls out with a snarl, gripping Aria's wrist firmly as holds her fixed glare on her, "Get me a full glass of water** _ **with ice**_ **and I want your ass back here on that bed and I'll show you who the** _ **Almighty Spencer Hastings**_ **is."**

 **Aria clenches her jaw as her eyes are locked, gazing into Spencer's. Her words seeped into her skin, causing goosebumps to arise from the amount of control Spencer had in her voice and how gravelly it became with her demanded orders. With a single head nod, Aria pulled her hand out of Spencer's hold. She could feel her heart beginning to gradually pound against her skin with every second that went by as they both stood in the middle of Aria's room, staring deeply at each other in the dead silence of their dorm.**

 **Just as she had hoped,** _ **her plan has worked.**_

As Spencer's mouth moves down from her neck and starts to work onto her chest, Aria could feel Spencer's tongue and lips trace her areola for a moment until she latches onto her nipple. She lets out a small sigh as Spencer pinches it slightly between her lips, feeling it pucker up to her touch. Aria's hands feel for her back, exploring her body as she purposefully leaves a trail of her voyaging with a graze of her nails. With all the exertion put into their current nightly activity, Spencer's breathing was ragged, matching Aria's below her, lifting her pelvis as she comes down. Just as Aria began to close her eyes and allow the sensation within her body to build, Spencer growls to herself and seizes one of Aria's leg wrapped around her, leaning it forward to gain an angle for a faster pace she pushed herself into. The blunt change of stride caused Aria to gasp out with the quick flutter of her eyes opening, holding tightly onto Spencer's sides as she bounces to Spencer's picked up rhythm.

In such a horny daze, Spencer stares down at Aria trying to keep up, gazing back up at her with her soft hazel eyes and mouth that fell open. She laid beneath her looking obscenely sexy through their locked eyes and it just seemed to fuel Spencer even more. Between the exchange of panting breaths, the deep down, brimming fullness, and the vehement sensation pulsing through her that's building quicker than before, Aria feels herself developing into yet another climax. Spencer scooted closer to Aria, trying to get as deep as she could go. Pumping her hips in and out, the thumbing of the bed was accompanied by loud smacking sounds echoing across the room and possibly all throughout their silent dorm.

" _Yes…yes, oh my god. Yes, Spencer_ ," Aria whined out in passion with each thrust given to her. " _Don't stop. Please, don't stop_."

Quieting her whimpering, Spencer bends down and places a kiss on her soft lips, making Aria immediately hold her face in both her hands while Spencer continued driving into her. A few struggled moans escaped Aria's mouth as Spencer's hands slide to the back of Aria's neck, cradling her. Their tongues swirl around each other's, getting them to both quietly moan out, rendering Spencer to work into Aria harder.

" _Shit…"_ Spencer hisses out sharply as she adverts her attention downwards, observing her motions of the mock flesh slipping in and out of while Aria continues to stare at her, holding her securely in her grasp. At that moment, the stirring in her stomach began reaching its peak and Aria knew at the rate Spencer was going, it was probably only 10-15 more seconds before she would reach her climax.

" _Spencer, I'm…I'm…"_ Aria tries to speak, tries to convey her approach but is so warped up in the kicked up, persistent tempo that her thoughts were jumbled with each thrust. Spencer glances back up at Aria in time to see her eyes flicker close, tipping her head back as she trails off in her words. The room becomes quiet again with just the sounds of their sex as Spencer gazes down at Aria in her last moments of restraint. As she readjusts her grip on the back of her neck, waiting for that moment, long seconds pass before Aria exhales out a sharp gasp from the beginning wave of the overwhelming sensation boiling over. Jerking her head forward so that their foreheads touch, Aria's jaw strained tightly as she stared intensely into Spencer's brown eyes, both bouncing in unison to Spencer's movements. Her lips begins to move, whispering inaudible words as a cleft formed between her eyebrows, pinched in concentration as her thumb caressed Spencer's cheek.

"…. _Oh God!"_ Aria cries out as she slams her eyes shut, leaning a head back. " _Fuck!"_

As Aria experiences her orgasm, still holding Spencer tightly in her hands, Spencer gradually brings down her speed to a slow stroke to help the smaller brunette ride out her climax. She feels Aria's legs become limp around her along with her breathing that was hard and uneven as she leisurely rotates her hips against her. Unlike the sounds from 20 seconds ago, the room became completely silent with just their panting as the source of noise. After a few seconds, Spencer stops moving and watches Aria let out a long sigh before she opens up her eyes lazily to look at the girl hoovering above her.

"…..Who the hell are you and what did you do to Spencer?" Aria rasps out with her chest still heaving up and down. Spencer lets out a small chuckle and readies herself, slowly pulls the strap out of Aria, before she hops out of the bed, stretching out her legs that she's been putting pressure on for a long amount of time.

"Who the hell am I?" Spencer begins her response as she unties the fastening band around her hips, "I am the great, the magnificent, _the almighty Spencer Hastings_." she replies back with a smug and victorious grin as she unhooks the harness and lets Aria's _adventurous_ toy fall to the floor. Spencer walks over towards Aria's dresser, grabs her empty glass, and heads towards the door in route to the kitchen, " _You should be honored_." she calls over her shoulder as she leaves. Aria shakes her head and runs her hand through her hair, letting out another deep breath as she tries to get an understanding of what just happened. Looking over at her nightstand, Aria throws out an arm to grab her phone to see exactly what time it was and how much sleep she had until she had to start her day early in the morning.

 _2:38am._

"2:38?" Aria questions to herself in a bit of surprise at how late it was. It was known how late Spencer came back from her meeting but for a little over two hours? To Aria, she would have only guessed little more than half an hour had passed, maybe an hour tops, but two? This she couldn't believe.

"You might want to consider taking a shower." Spencer fluffs her hair to the side as she stands in the doorway, naked, taking a drink from her glass of water, "You're all….wet and sticky….and wet. You're gonna have to change your sheets too while you're at it…and also clean _that thing_." Spencer points to the floor with an exaggerated grimace.

Aria groans as rolls to the side, finding covers to shield her body, "I'm too tired to move, let me recover in peace."

" _Nope_." Spencer takes an ice cube into her mouth as she walks back into Aria's room, setting the glass back down on the dresser, "I know you. Recovery _for you_ means sleep. _Come on_." she rips the covers off Aria's body, exposing her small figure before she had the time to react. As one arm hooked underneath Aria's knees while the wrapped around her back, Spencer swiftly lifts Aria off her bed with little effort, "I scrubbed that bathroom on my hands and knees to the point you can eat off the toilet seat. We're taking this _damn shower,_ we're going to change those _damn sheets_ , then we're going to eat some _damn food_ , then we're going to _fucking sleep, mmkay_?"

….

Getting herself accustomed into the ways of the Penn's GPA, Spencer begins gaining invitations to the club's exclusives events and gatherings that are hosted amongst the formal occasions to the more casual and laid back ones. Bringing Aria as her plus one, days later after their late night, Spencer and Aria clean up nice for a semi-formal "connections" party and head out to show face and make a good impression on Spencer's behalf. At this particular assembly, you have all kinds of people ranging from undergraduate students to PH.D majors from different career fields under one roof with food and drinks, chatting and getting to know one another to make connections for the future. Exclusive to members and their one other invitee, not just anyone can join in on this elite opportunity. As the chatter of the people carried on through the day's evening, Aria tried to stay close to Spencer, not really wanting to venture off in a sea of unknown faces with the brunette seemingly being life of every conversation she found herself in.

"Yes, she's great. You should meet her-" Spencer turns around, searching her eyes through the crowd of people behind her to see Aria making small talk to someone that she probably didn't know but got rounded into a conversation with.

" _Aria?_ "

The smaller brunette hears Spencer's call and pardon's herself from the stranger and walks towards her small circle as Spencer outstretches her arm out with a warm smile, ready to introduce Aria to yet another gathering of her associates. "Aria, this is Ethan Bullard," she politely points to a young, slim male hiding behind glasses, a glass of lemonade and casual button-up and slacks, "He's a freelance artist who had his work featured in several exhibitions over at Philadelphia's art museum. Ethan, this is Aria Montgomery also known as one of the most talented, artistic people I know." Spencer snugs Aria in close to her with a sense of pride as she shows Aria off, causing the smaller brunette to cower her head and blush, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear as she smiles down at the ground.

"If you have Spencer Hastings talking about you more than she does herself, she's either planning a sabotage or you _really_ must be something _magical_." a low, cocky voice sounds off to the side, belonging to an incoming male undergraduate student walking in to join Spencer and Aria's little circle, swirling a glass of his own in his hand.

Spencer sighs with a cordial smile as she nods, acknowledging the fellow's presence, "Aria, this is Carson Wyatt. He's a hopeless son of a bitch that I went to high school with back home." she flashes him a haughty smile that Carson returns right back before he puts all his attention onto Aria who is gawking up at Spencer with her mouth left open, gasping out a surprised laugh.

"Hello, Carson." Aria smiles, laying her eyes on the nicely dressed boy as she reaches out for a handshake, "Nice to meet you."

He grasps her small hands and shakes it lightly, maintaining eye contact with her with a charm of a smile to follow. "The pleasure is mine, Ms. Montgomery."

"So you do literature, photography and divulge into the arts, Spencer tells me." Ethan forces a cough as he makes his way back into the conversation before he is shunned out. Prior to Aria being introduced, Ethan was telling Spencer about his work and what he does for a living to which prompted Spencer the opportunity to slide Aria in and big her up. From the choices of words Spencer chose to use to describe Aria and her talents, it definitely caught Ethan's attention and wanted to know more about what the brunette did.

"Well, I dabble here and there." Aria nods as she taps the side of her glass with the tips of her fingers, slowly becoming anxious as she becomes the center of attention with all eyes on her.

Spencer scoffs with a blatant head shake, tossing back a gulp of water from her water bottle, "She's _brilliant_. Her writing is of classical poets and her photos speak _over_ 1,000 words. She's just too humble to say otherwise." Aria feels the heat rise to her cheeks once again as she lets out a small giggle. She glances up at Spencer and gains a wink from the taller brunette as she takes another hit from her bottle. Aria is used to having to talk and present herself but the territory of having someone brag about her is still oddly new and is taking her a bit of time to adjust to it. Especially since _she's_ a guest at _Spencer's_ function, she definitely didn't expect for Spencer to switch and put her in the spotlight so much.

"Well color me interested." Ethan speaks up with noticeable curiosity in his eyes as he crossed his arms, "I would love to see your work one day. If you don't mind, of course."

" _Ah!_ Ms. Hastings!" an older male calls out to Spencer, excusing himself from the circle he once stood in. Spencer turns with a smile to the unknown man and Dr. Addison, pretending to already know who he was, secretly waiting for him to introduce himself just in case they never met before. The man in his mid-forties extends his hand out for a handshake while cradling a glass of wine in the other, "Dr. Lapper, I teach several courses over at Penn Law." he shakes the brunette's hand firmly as she smiles at him with a bright and inviting grin, leaving Aria to socialize alone with Ethan and Carson, "I've heard many things from Dr. Addison. Quite an _extraordinary_ young woman you are."

"Aw, well, thank you for your kind words, Dr. Lapper." Spencer tilts her head kindly at professor before her eyes find the familiar woman he advanced with, bowing her head at her additionally, " _Margaret_ , it's nice to see you this evening."

"You too as well, Spencer." the older woman smiled, resting a hand on the man's shoulder, "I was just explaining to Dr. Lapper of all of your recent achievements as of lately. How you made the lacrosse team, the Dean's list, and how you still created time to be a big contribution to our association in the midst of everything." Nodding his head impressed, Dr. Addison turned to Dr. Lapper with an amused giggle, "I don't know how she does it! It's like she's Wonder Woman."

The two adults standing-by indulge in a small round of laughter as Spencer nods her head with a tiny chuckle of her own, " _Well_ , this Diana has found her superpowers to make her workload of things _a little bit_ bearable this time around…" the brunette remarks as she rings the body of water bottle in her hands. She feels herself clenching her jaw as her eyes discreetly drift out to the corners where she sees Aria laughing among the company of Carson and Ethan.

"What's your secret?" Dr. Lapper's voice cuts in, getting Spencer's attention again, "Maybe we can sell it and make a fortune."

Changing into a poised and authoritative standing position, Spencer grips her bottle tightly in one hand while the other slides into the pocket of her fitted, black slacks, " _Well_ …It wouldn't be a secret if I spill, wouldn't it?"

"Smart woman." Dr. Lapper commends Spencer's decision with a flicked eyebrow raise and a side smile.

"I hear that you brought a guest, Spencer. Are they around so we can meet them?" Dr. Addison looks around the open space filled with chattering people only for Spencer to jump up at the questioning.

" _Uhm, yes._ Excuse me one moment." the brunette pardons herself and steps off to the side to join Aria's circle to grab her for a quick second. "Aria, can I borrow you, please?" she whispers into her ear, initially surprising the smaller brunette from behind. Aria nods her head and mouths her excuses to her male-counterparts before she allowed Spencer's hand on her lower back lead her in the direction to the awaiting older professors that were interested in meeting her.

"Dr. Lapper and Dr. Addison, this is my plus one guest, Ms. Aria Montgomery." Spencer proudly smiles as she looks down at Aria, showcasing her once again.

"Hello, Ms. Montgomery." the older male extends his free hand out first, "Dr. Lapper from Penn Law."

Aria politely smiles as she firmly shook the gentleman's hand, "Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Lapper."

" _Ms. Montgomery_ …Don't think I've seen you around campus before…" Dr. Addison squints her eyes as she raises a finger to her face, tapping lightly on her cheek as she examines Aria in front of her.

"Oh, I'm more in the English and Arts department." Aria shakes her head with a smile, "I'm majoring in English."

" _Creativity_." Dr. Addison gushes with her brows raising up her forehead as she tilts her face towards her shoulder, "Interesting if I must say."

"She is _quite_ the fascination, I can concur." Spencer murmurs as she subtly rubs the small of Aria's back in her form-fitting black dress, causing Aria to indirectly to bite the inside of her bottom lip while keeping a straight face, making sure to not visibly gain any attention from the adults in front of them.

"So, what is your relation to your guest, Ms. Montgomery, that you've never introduced me to, Spencer?" Dr. Addison questions with small smile of her own, a smile that instantly causes Aria to let out a forced smile and glance up at Spencer whose eyes widen and hands slowly remove from Aria's back.

"Oh, she's…" Spencer clears her throat and looks down at Aria before she goes back to Dr. Addison who stands expecting an answer, "Aria is a-she's my… _a colleague_. Of mine." Spencer spits out with a nervous laugh, peeking back down at Aria, afraid that everyone could see right through her façade, "She's actually my _best friend_."

" _Yes_ …" Aria slowly nods her head as she up kept her smile to the unsuspecting older man and woman, hearing Spencer fidget around with her water bottle besides her. "We met through various circumstances throughout living here on campus earlier this year but didn't become the _best of friends_ until recent months. Since then, we have gotten _really close._ " Aria smile kicks up with a hint of scheming behind of her eyes that Spencer couldn't catch onto.

"Well that's marvelous! Friendships made at this time in life often are held for a lifetime. Hopefully you girls can maintain it." Dr. Lapper praises unknowingly to Aria's double meaning as he raises his glass of wine up to his lips for a quick sip, "We won't hold you ladies up anymore. Go ahead and mingle to your heart's content! _Spencer_." he nods his head in her direction before changing towards Aria's, " _Aria_. Beautiful meeting you too."

"Nice meeting you too, Dr. Lapper."

"See you around, Dr. Lapper." both girls harmonize at the same time as both professors walk off, leaving the brunettes by themselves for the first time in a while since they've arrived at this function. Spencer takes a deep breath before she turns her body to face Aria, silent before allowing any words to leave her mouth. Without any chance to even formulate a thought, Aria glances at Spencer up and down with a chuckle and saunters off, leaving Spencer by herself as she heads towards the empty table of drinks and assorted finger food.

"Hey, _Hey_." Spencer called out as she walked after Aria, not trying to attract attention from the other event-goers, " _Wait up_." Practically fast pacing after the brunette, Spencer reaches Aria at the table with a worried look on her face, afraid that she had done something wrong to her with that greeting that she had just put her through.

" _Aria_ …" Spencer whispered with a groan as she watched Aria ignore her and proceed to pour herself refreshing glass of lemonade, "Aria, look…I hope you're not mad about me calling you a colleague, it's just that I'm…I thought we decided that we're-"

"Are you're intentions this evening to turn me on at this party of yours, _Ms. Hastings?_ " Aria turns to Spencer with a low and sulky voice as raises her glass to her lips, catching Spencer off guard with the intense eye contact coming from her side. After a few quick seconds, a confused yet accepting smile slides across Spencer face as she decides to entertain Aria's question. She would rather her feel frisky than to be upset about being downgraded from girlfriend to best friend in a public setting.

"Now, why would you think that, _Ms. Montgomery_?"

"Because it's pretty evident that you are." Aria rests her arms on her chest, drink still in hand as she surveys the crowd, "Ever since we came here, you've been full force with the subtle touches, the double meanings, the eye-fucking-"

Spencer scoffs with a laugh, entertained as she reaches for a bacon-wrapped potato bites served on a pick, complimentary of the hosts, "I am _not_ eye-fucking you."

Aria side-glances Spencer with a raised eyebrow, "I know eye-fucking when I see it. I know when you're beginning to become lustful." she turns around to face the table housing the drinks and hors d'oeuvres that they both stood in front of by themselves, keeping their conversation low and discreet for only them two to understand, "It swirls in those sinful brown eyes of yours."

Spencer causally dismisses the allegations against her with a small head shake as she glides her snack across her spicy sour cream dipping sauce, keeping her eyes to herself, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Aria pouts, nodding her head as she sees the game they were about to play. " _Honestly_ …If there weren't people here…..I'd fuck you." Aria continues with their _casual_ talking, reaching over to grab herself a tiny plate of Parmesan bread bites with her voice being as serious as could be with lack of emotion behind it, " _Right here_. Probably on this table."

Being caught off-guard by yet another blindside of a blunt remark from the smaller brunette, Spencer's eyes widen with the pacing of her chewing slowing down drastically, " _God, woman_." she coughs out, reaching for her drink to wash down her food and, hopefully, her dirty thoughts beginning to form in her mind.

The brunette shrugs with an uncertain pout of her lips before she takes a bite of her bread, "I've just been so _horny_ lately and I really don't know why."

" _I could tell_."

"Like you haven't."

"Unlike you, I know how to control myself in a public setting."

" _Please_." Aria rolls her eyes at Spencer with pure skepticism and doubt, checking her up and down with almost a hint of a mocking laugh, "Don't act like it wouldn't take me _seconds_ to make you come undone right where you stand."

Spencer cocks her head to the side as she throws away her plate and empty water bottle in the trash bin at the end of the table, "I'm saying nothing." she comments as she swipes another water bottle off the table as she walks away, causing Aria to follow right next to her.

"This is all your fault, though." she continues as they walk towards the inner part of the room again, keeping light smiles at everyone who looks at them through their whispered conversation.

"My fault? How is it my fault?" Spencer questions through her forced smile as she gives a wave to a fellow board member passing by.

"I told you that you were going to turn me into a sex addict." Aria leans into Spencer as she follows the taller brunette's path, lowering her voice from possible lurking ears, "Now look at where we are."

"Welp, sounds like a personal problem." Spencer leads Aria to the other side of the large and crowded room, finding a corner more secluded so that they can talk and not risk someone accidentally walking into their conversation of such inappropriate behavior. "I can't help that the _Almighty Spencer Hastings_ delivers so well." Spencer boasts out proudly as she places her back against the wall so she can see her entire surrounding, scanning for anyone coming her way as Aria stands in front of her.

" _Eh_." she shrugs indifferently.

Spencer squints her eyes in confusion of Aria's response, "Eh? What do you mean eh?"

"Eh as in _eh._ Your last performance was…." Aria bounces her head from side to side as she does a subtle look to see who was around her, "good."

Spencer leans back surprised as her eyes narrow even more at the smaller brunette, astounded that her rating was placed at an average level. " _Good?_ "

"Like an 8 out of 10. It could have been better."

"Well geez. I wonder what stopped the usual 10 out of 10's. Maybe if someone didn't hit me with a…. _foreign object,_ I wouldn't have been an 8 out of 10." Spencer mocks with a roll of her eyes, causing Aria to prevent herself from laughing at her reaction to her scoring, "I'm _sorry_ that I didn't magically transform into a _James Deen_ right away." the brunette raises her hands in defenses but then changes up just as quickly, "You know what, screw your 8. I caught a _serious_ leg cramp because of you."

The struggling laugh turns into a smile as Aria lightens up at the mini ranting Spencer purged herself of. Unable to have almost zero PDA-like touching in front of everyone, Aria steps in closer to Spencer with her voice hushed and eyes locked, "But you know what I did like? That powerhouse of an ending we had. Now _that_ was a 10 out of 10, I would definitely recommend again."

"Well I'm glad that someone did." Spencer's eyes drift away from Aria's now penetrating gaze for a brief moment, tapping lightly yet rhythmically on her bottle before she finds them again.

" _Maybe_ …" Aria dangerously looks down at Spencer's clothing with a slight bite of her bottom lip, holding her arms behind her as she sways a bit, "We can go for round two tonight? Except what you did in the last minute or so….make that the standard for this time." Spencer lowers her head, raising her eyebrows all the way up her forehead in astonishment of her words as she maintains the daring and lustful eye contact held by Aria in front of her, shielded away from everyone else's view. "I need some… _passionate aggression_ , if you know what I mean. See it as an outlet for you." she bargains with a sweet smile laced with sly undertones, "All of the hardworking and stress you've been under needs some kind of release, _right?_ "

Spencer lets out a chuckle, dropping her eyes to the ground with her tongue pressed against the inside of her cheek, " _Aria, Aria, Aria_ …." she sings with her head shakes.

" _Spencer, Spencer, Spencer_ …" Aria responds back with a smooth, honeyed singing of her own, pushing the temptation onto Spencer with only her eyes and the play of her smile the only form contact she was able to make. Staring at each other for a second too long, easily about to lose herself in means of forgetting where she was, Spencer breaks from Aria's Medusa-like gaze and sucks in a great deal of air, pulling her phone out of her pants' pocket.

"How about I get back to you on that after this phone call I have to make." Spencer offers a polite smile as she shakes the phone in front of her.

"You're blowing me off for a _phone call?_ " Aria eyes her phone suspiciously, crossing her arms unhappily. After all the work she just put in, for Spencer to decide to make a phone call now kind of ticked her and her rising libido off.

" _No_ , I just need to call in with some of the board members, check in with a few things before we leave here." Spencer defends herself as she opens her phone and goes to her contact list, scrolling for a specific name before finding it, and pressing call, wasting absolutely no time, "Just be a good little girl and continue talking to people, exchange information, gain connections. This is your opportunity to rub shoulders with people to help get you to where you need to go." With the phone at her ear and Aria still standing in front of her with her eyes narrows, unmoving, Spencer gently pushes Aria away from her, " _Go._ " she urges, _"_ Hurry up before we get out of here." Aria mopes a pouty, reluctant face as she slowly slinks away towards the buzzing crowd of opportunities. Watching Aria walk away, the phone connects on the other line of her call.

"Hey, it's Spencer….Are you available for a moment?"

….

"Cake or pie?"

"Pie. Definitely pie."

"Nope. Cake."

"Oh, now we're gonna fight." Aria clings onto Spencer's arm as they walk out onto the warm, still night of their campus, finally leaving Spencer's gathering after having their last conversations with people and saying their goodbyes. "Why would you ever choose cake over pie?"

"Why would you choose pie over cake?!" Spencer shoots back, gripping her water bottle as she extends her arms out in front of her with the lift of her shoulders, walking under the campus's streetlights lighting their path back to their college house about 10 minutes away.

"When you see the American dream with the cooking mom, what is she always baking? _A pie_. What is always on the window-stills, hot and fresh and still steaming? _A pie!_ You'll never see a cake!" Aria defensively guards her choice with her cold, proven facts, talking with one hand as she nuzzles onto Spencer with the grasp of the other.

"When you go to a wedding, the most important day of your life, do you see the couple cutting into a _wedding pie?_ " Spencer retorts on beat at the end of Aria's sentence, causing Aria to giggle at Spencer's quick comeback delivery, "That would be the most fucking depressing wedding you'd ever see the day that shit happens."

" _HASTINGS!"_

The loud call-out causes both girls to spin around to see to who that voice belonged to. A guy dressed in a black Penn sweatshirt with black jeans stands a ways away from the duo as he waves Spencer over to him. Not recognizing the male from the event they just attended, Aria opens her mouth to ask who he was but Spencer beats her to the punch.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." Spencer pries away from Aria's hold, ready to head over to the unknown guy.

"Where are you going?"

"It's just have to go over something really quick for boards. He's going out of town for the weekend and I have to verify this information before he leaves. Give me two, three minutes tops." Without any other second being wasted, Spencer takes off and leaves Aria, almost jogging towards the guy who patiently waited for Spencer's arrival. Aria suspiciously watches him, trying to do a quick match-up to see if she's ever seen this guy before. Unfortunately, she draws a blank in a university that holds thousands of students with his face blending in with a sea of other guys who looked similar to him. Checking around her environment, seeing that its night and she's technically by herself in one idle spot, Aria keeps her eyes on Spencer and the boy until another voice comes up from behind and startles her.

" _Woah_. Didn't mean to scare you." Carson Wyatt laughs as he approaches a now slightly jittery Aria, "What are you doing here all alone on a night like this?"

"I'm waiting for someone." Aria rubs her arms awkwardly, trying to be polite but not really in the mood for another conversation, "Spencer. I'm waiting on Spencer."

"Oh, you guys are roommates, right?" Carson recalls, gaining a head nod from Aria, "Well, I don't know if I would be able to see you again since we're on two different sides of campus but I want to take the opportunity now to tell you that I enjoyed talking to you." he flashes a soft smile at Aria, "I find you to be a very stimulating person."

Within Aria's head, she immediately caught onto Carson's words. She knew that he was attempting to talk to her in means of getting to know her better since, after all, she is _"single"_. Because her and Spencer are not publicly a thing, all Aria could do is politely play along, finding some way to reject him in the meantime. "Thank you, Carson. That's really nice of you to say."

"You know, if you ever need anything, whether it's help or just something to talk to, you can call me." Carson places his hand inside of his black suit jacket and pulls out a small folded piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to Aria who slowly takes it from his hand. "Maybe we can go on a breakfast run one of these days."

Opening up the paper, Aria sees that he had written down his name and number for her to contact him. She looks back up and forces a strained smile, still trying to be cordial, "Uhm, yeah. Sure, maybe."

"Also, I wanted to say this earlier but you look gorgeous in that dress. It really suits you, perfectly. Just overall gorgeous."

 _Thanks, I wore this dress for Spencer, actually. Not for guys like you._

"Thank you. It's my first time at these kind of events and I just wanted to make a good impression."

"Well, consider an impression made." Carson's eyes glance over Aria's body, taking in her form inside the dress. Aria begins feeling uncomfortable and takes a look around, turning specifically to see what Spencer is up to and if she was done or not. Carson picks up on her sights and decides to comment on it rather than ending the conversation with a goodbye and leaving.

"Looks like Spencer is taking a while, huh?"

"It's a business thing, so you know..." Aria gives him a closed-mouth smile that only lasts for a second, adjusting her posture as she let her eyes wonder around other places.

"Well, I can take you to your dorm, if you want." Carson smiles, sliding both hands inside his pants' pockets as he turns his body slightly towards the path Aria was walking, in the direction of her college house.

Aria's niceness fades as she cocks her head to the side, arching an eyebrow at the bold gentleman that stood in front of her, "Excuse me?"

"It's pretty late and I wouldn't want you standing out here by yourself while you wait for her." Carson nonchalantly responds back, not catching onto Aria's narrowed eyes in disapproval, "You know what they say… _the freaks come out at night._ "

Aria side-eyes Carson up and down before she shook her head, reminding herself to stay polite and friendly. He is in relation to Spencer and she wouldn't want to tell him off if it could backfire in anyway, "No, don't worry, I can handle myself. I'm not leaving without her." Carson goes to reply when a voice approaching cuts him off before he had the opportunity to come up with a sentence.

"Nice to see you still _slithering_ around, Wyatt." Spencer shakes her head with a smug smile as Aria lets out a subtle sigh of relief, glad that Spencer was able to swoop in and save her.

Carson drops his head with a smile of his own, surrendering both hands before he looks back up at Spencer, "Just trying to be friendly, that's all."

"Yeah, she's not interested." the brunette interlocks her arm with Aria's, walking her straight ahead down the path they were going before they were interrupted, " _Sorry_." Spencer grins as they bypass the student before she reaches out and dusts off his shoulder with fake admiration, "Nice suit, I must add. Makes you look _sharp_."

Carson lets out a chuckle as he watches the duo walk away from him, running his hand through his dark brown hair cockily, "Gotta look nice while you're dominating the competition, I can see why you're impressed."

"Whatever you gotta tell yourself in the mirror, Wyatt!" Spencer calls over her shoulder, making Aria lean into her in a small giggle as they head to their dorm.

…

Spencer's hands pinned Aria's to the wall, her body immobilizing her from moving. She was all hard tension and Aria could feel this raw strength being utilized that she didn't recognize: Jaw clenched, her gaze dark with her eyes low and fixed. Almost too fixed. Before she could speak, Spencer's lips crashed down on hers, fastening whatever she was going to say. Spencer took both of Aria's hands in her one palm and held them high above her head, the position arching her back and bringing her to her toes as Spencer's lips and tongue invaded hers ruthlessly. She made a helpless sound that the taller brunette heard and ignored, even when she tore her mouth away from her panting.

" _Spencer_ …" she whispered breathlessly, a little surprised but also very aroused. She had wanted to push her, wanted her to lose her control. Well, there was the lack of control she wanted and may have asked for more than she was bargained for as Spencer feels her inhibitions leaving her with every second passing by. Her answer was grabbing Aria's chin in her other hand and bringing her face back to her's.

" _Shhh…_ " she gently righted her, pushing her body closer to her against their hallway wall. As she held Aria still, she could feel her body begin to buzz gently all over in this euphoric haze from the tips of her fingers down to the heels of her feet. Her mind goes back to the evening event they just returned from and how Aria claimed that wanted " _passionate aggression._ " Her silky voice replays in her head over and over as she stares at the brunette in front of her, waiting for Spencer to make her next move.

" **See it as an outlet for you."**

" **All of the hardworking and stress you've been under needs some kind of release,** _ **right?**_ **"**

If it was aggression she wanted, then it was Spencer's job to show her that she was the one in control; at least in the bedroom for tonight. She wanted complete dominance over her desires no matter how gentle, no matter how dark.

" _Look at me._ " Spencer commanded after she noticed that Aria has been staring at her lips the entire time. With a lift of her chin, their gaze met. " _Unbuckle my belt._ "

Slowly, hesitantly, Spencer released her grasp on Aria's hands above her head and allowed her to reach for her for bottoms. With their eyes never leaving each other's, Aria works her fingers to slip the leather belt out of the ring. With the sound of the metal clinking through the quiet hallway, Aria feels herself almost shrinking under Spencer's deep gaze, causing her to fidget a bit with such a simple task. After a few tries, when she finally released the clasp, she slid the leather from around Spencer's waist and held it proudly in her hand to the side. She felt a feminine thrill at the naked, dark desire in her gaze.

She knew that it was going to be a _good_ night.

…

Spencer leans over and kisses the shoulder blade of Aria's arched back, rocking underneath her to her tension of rhythm. With the side of her face rested on the bed, Aria grips tightly onto the red wine sheet with her eyes shut closed, letting loud, soft moans escape her mouth as the pressure of Spencer's thrust lurches her body forward. Spencer slides her hand onto the bed to interlock her fingers with Aria's as she continued to penetrate her roughly from behind.

" _Ohhh God..._ " Aria whines as she feels Spencer's warm breath on her back, sending shivers down her spine. Straighten back up, Spencer runs her hand through her hair as her other leaves Aria's hand and slides up to her neck. In one swift motion, Spencer raises Aria's face off the bed and leans her head back far enough so that she could look at her as she speedily pumped her hips vigorously into her. Aria's groans become choppy as she bends her back from being on fours to sitting right side up with both of Spencer's hands gripped the base of her throat, holding her head in place.

"Open your eyes. _Look at me_." Spencer grits through her teeth, looking down at the smaller brunette with her eyes tightly shut and mouth hung open, trying to control her breathing, " _Look at me, Aria_." Following the command she's told, Aria clenches down on her jaw and opens her eyes, seeing Spencer upside down behind her.

 _"Hey, baby."_ Spencer smiles as she maintains her fast and deep strokes, making it hard for Aria to keep her eyes open when she has the overwhelming need to close them. The sound of Aria's ass bouncing against Spencer's pelvis and the fast tempo creak of the bed echoes loudly over Aria's whimpers as she tries to take all of what Spencer was giving her. The noises she made were involuntary; she couldn't stop them even if she forced herself to try. Spencer bends down to latch her lips onto Aria's bottom lip as she feels the smaller brunette struggling underneath her. She tries to talk but with every pound, she forgets another letter in the English language. Aria reaches up to Spencer's hands around her neck as she silently exclaims out, feeling the churning building up in her stomach. Pulling away from their kiss, watching Aria flicker her eyes close and mouth open, letting out no sound, Spencer releases her grasp on Aria's neck. The brunette exhales out as she throws her hands out in front of her into the mattress, regaining her composure before she is yanked backwards again by her hair.

" _Nononono_ , come back." Spencer coos with a small chuckle as she grips a handful of Aria's hair, tugging her back into place as her free hand grips her hips, " _Come back to me_."

Aria wobbles underneath the pressure, feeling overwhelmed and surrounded as she feels herself getting closer and closer to her peak.

 _"Oh God! Oh God! Spencer!"_ Aria shrieks louder than expected, not knowing where to put her hands as the pain of her pulled hair mixes with the pleasure swirling all over her body. With the last few thrusts to send her into elation, Aria loses full control of her body and goes limp into Spencer's hands. The lack of movement and sound coming from Aria doesn't faze Spencer as she continued to pull on her soft, long brown hair, pushing harder against her.

 _"Uh! Spencer!"_ Aria gasps out, throwing her arms behind her to touch Spencer's sides, " _Spencer, please! I-I can't...No more, no more!_ "

Spencer begins grinding her teeth as she slows down her pace, rotating her hips into a slow grind as she helps soothe Aria through her pleads.

"No more, I'm done." Aria pants tiredly as her chest heaves up and down from the rush of energy she just exerted. Orgasming she doesn't remember how many times since they started, Aria leans her body against Spencer's as she feels her body twitch. " _I'm done_."

" _No_...You're not done." Before Aria could protest, Spencer pulls out of her and flips her onto her back, pulling her legs to bring her body closer to her. "You're not done until _I_ say we're done." Aria huffs as tries to speak out, waving Spencer off until her pleading gets cut off by Spencer's warm tongue slurping the sweet juices accumulated from their latest run. Aria instantly arches her body, sensitive to touch as she holds onto the sheets once again. The oral session lasts for a few seconds before Spencer flips her hair to the side, climbing up to Aria's eye level and rests her forearms into the mattress.

"You're gorgeous, _you know that?_ " Spencer whispers as she gazes into Aria's big, hazel eyes. She reaches up and softly wipes under the smaller brunette's bottom eyelid, taking off the smudged eyeliner and mascara that she caused from earlier, "Even with your makeup a bit smeared...you're still the prettiest girl on campus." Spencer sweetly smiles with a small giggle. At that exact moment, Spencer lines up and pushes herself inside Aria to gain another gasp of air from her. It didn't take long before the active thrusting picks up speed again and they start back up to where they were 20 seconds ago. Clinging onto Spencer with her legs wrapped around her, Spencer started pumping in and out of her like a jackhammer. Filling Aria up with the receiving end, the friction from her motions give Spencer her own pleasing sensation, warranting her to go faster in her tempo. Aria practically starts begged in a tone that Spencer never heard in her voice before. It was like she was in a hypnotic trance. The brunette was happy to oblige and began aggressively thrusting in and out of her.

" _Shit!_ " she squeaked in the lightest of voices. It was barely audible. She tighten her legs around Spencer's waist and was pulling her closer into her while her nails were digging into her back. The beginning wave her second orgasm comes back in a rushed energetic phase as Aria grabbed the back of Spencer's head and kissed her with all the passion she could muster. That kiss was the push she needed to send her over the edge. While Spencer's tongue was exploring her mouth, pounding her mercilessly, her grip on her neck began to become tighter and firmer. With a second too long, Aria pulled away from the kiss. She had no choice. She needed to cry out.

 _"Fuuuuuuck! Oh my God! Oh my God!"_

Spencer presses her lips back on Aria's, sealing her outburst from their neighbors and hungrily kissed her with much desire. The amazing thing -and there's no doubt it was the feeling on approaching ecstasy making her feel this way- is how everything at that exact moment became heightened. It was almost as if someone turned up the saturation in her life and everything was bright and vibrant. Every normal feeling, sensation, and touch became an overwhelming electric charge surging through her body. The kiss that was on a normal level of arousing instantly turned exhilarating. The contact, the push, the eager need of Aria's tongue swirling around in her mouth made her heart beat rapidly as she felt an adrenaline rush. Adrenaline mixed in with the impending, climatic need to release. Becoming animalistic, Spencer forces herself forward, making Aria slide backwards as she holds onto her. Spencer continues pushing into Aria until she shoves her up against the headboard where she used her lasting energy to drive as deep as she could, not feeling the pain of Aria's nails in her back. Spencer strains her jaw as she felt her body begin to stiffen, making it harder to keep a consistent rhythm. Her breathing becomes labored, hands pressing hard into the mattress underneath her as she closes eyes. Aria notices Spencer's change in body language and embraces her, pulling her weight down onto her so she can hold her through her own orgasm.

Spencer begins to shake, letting out a shuddering whimper as let's go and allows the course of the sensation engulf her, feeling this intensity she's never felt before. As she squeezes down on her abdomen and grips onto Aria's thigh for support, Spencer physically feels her body become lighter with the room buzzing with vibrations that she feels that only she can feel. Aria's caressing hands rub all over her back and sides, almost forgetting she was underneath her with the seemingly blindside of emotions.

"Are you okay?" Aria asks in a raspy, worn out voice as she moves Spencer's hair out of her face, feeling the heaving of her chest against her own. Spencer looks down at Aria, not saying anything for a few seconds before she was able to find her voice.

" _Yeah_ …" she shakes her head, "Yeah I just…that was amazing." A smile creeps onto Aria's face as she leans forward and kisses the base of Spencer's neck as she continued to stare out in front of her, taking in everything.

" _Holy fuck that was amazing_."

…..

Nuzzling her face deeper into her pillow, Aria sleeping comfortably in Spencer's bed was peaceful until she heard some rumbling and thumping noises coming from the opposite side of the closed bedroom door. Her eyes lazily open as she tries to comprehend what she's hearing, immediately noticing she's in bed by herself. A few seconds of silence pass before another sound of opening and closing along with whispers float into her ears, causing her to fully awaken. Uncovering herself, Aria moves to roll onto the hardwood floor when she suddenly halts, feeling her muscles aching and sore. She hisses to herself for a moment of stillness before she breathes through the discomfort and pulls herself out of bed, dragging herself to the door in means of finding out what was going on so early in the morning.

Moving stealthy and slowly, Aria opens the room door and enters the pitch black hallway leading into a just as dark living room and kitchen. Aria questions herself if the noises she heard was in fact from her dorm or possibly the people above her because of the lack of human life her own place seemed to portray. Passing the unoccupied bathroom, knowing that Spencer wasn't in there only gave her two more locations: her room or the main area. Since she already passed her room, she headed towards the living room in hopes of seeing Spencer there and not someone else. She steps foot out of the hallway and stands very still, trying to allow her eyes to adjust in the dark. After a moment of silence, Aria shuffles towards the wall and flips on the light switch, presenting Spencer standing stiffly in front of the sink, staring directly at her with nearly wide-eyes.

" _Fuck!_ " Aria body jolts and weakens at the sudden sight of her girlfriend. She bends over, putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath and slow down her now racing heart rate, "Shit, Spencer!" she croaks out with her sore throat, " _What the hell?_ You gave me a heart attack."

Spencer bursts out in an uncontrollable giggle, holding everything in a childlike naiveté and awe at Aria's scare as she lifted the nozzle of the sink faucet and used the water to fill up her gallon jug. Aria regains her composure and stares at Spencer, still laughing to herself as she stared down at her hands.

"Who were you talking to?" Aria asks as she looked around, making sure she didn't fail to notice someone else inside their dorm. Seeing it completely empty, Aria waits for Spencer response.

"Nobody…" Spencer keeps her eyes down at the jug rushing with water, "Nobody is here."

"Then why were you whispering?"

"Because I was on the phone."

"With who?"

"Arvo."

"Arvo?" Aria face scrunches up, hearing this name for the first time, "Whose Arvo?"

" _Ar-vo…_ " Spencer exaggerates his name just as the jug overflowed with water, seeping all over onto her hands. She turns off the faucet, places a cap on her container, and trudges out the kitchen into the living room where Aria watches her throw herself onto the couch. "Arvo's a friend of mine."

Aria shakes her head, lifting a hand to point at Spencer in confusion, "Why are you on the couch when you have a bed? Over there? With me in it?"

"How did I do this time around, Aria?" Spencer smiles, stretching out her neck as she rested her head on the arm rest, staring up at the ceiling as she places the jug on the floor next to her. "Was I still an 8 out of 10?"

Aria shakes her head, staring at Spencer for a brief quiet second before she came up with a response, "Let's just say….I'm going to have to tell people I had leg day at the gym just to justify why I'm walking like I have a limp." Aria sighs, watching Spencer's smile grow even wider upon hearing her words.

"You wanted what you wanted, don't complain _nooooow_." she sings proudly as she places her arms around her head, still staring up the ceiling in admiration.

"I'm going back to sleep." Aria waves her hand, sluggishly turning to head back to the room, "I gotta get up early tomorrow. Do you have classes?"

" _Nope_ …"

"Well stop making noise for those who do, you bastard." Taking a step forward, Aria pauses herself, " _Wait._ " She turns back around with her eyes squinted and eyebrows pinched to together as she puts her sights back on the brunette in the living room, "Spencer get up and come to bed. Why the hell are you laying on that couch?"

"I'm just relaxing." she responds coolly, "I can't sleep."

Disapproving, Aria lets out a small whine, " _Come on._ Sleep with me. How am I supposed to sleep if you're not there?"

" _Fineeee…_ " Spencer groans as she leans herself off the couch, swooping down to get her gallon of water, " _I'll sleep with you._ "

" _Wow_. I felt like a middle aged wife just now." Aria waits for Spencer so they could walk to her room together, "Don't you ever make me beg for you to come to bed like that again."

"Why? You beg so well-"

"Shut up." Aria smacks Spencer's arm, making the brunette stumbles off to the side giggling. Aria takes another strike at her again, hitting the same spot as Spencer continued to laugh on, " _Shut your mouth._ "

"I thought you liked it wide open?" Spencer taunts with low and sleepy eyes, gaining an instant shove by the smaller brunette through her room door.

" _You're talking too much. Go to sleep."_

 **Are…Are you still alive over there?**

 **Glad to see you again.**

 **Speaking of Sparia, as I get back into the swing of all things literature, I've realized I started a Sparia Christmas fic and** _ **never**_ **finished it. And for that, I have failed you guys. I am sorry and am writing the next chapter as you read this. It's such a nice and innocent concept of the families getting together and I really want to finish it because you really don't see Sparia stories let alone Sparia integrated family stories. I have some funny things that I've thrown in there that I'd like you guys to see and I literally won't be able to sleep until I finish my work. So, be on the lookout for that :)**

 **As for this story… How are you feeling? What are you feeling right now? I bet it's a mixture of emotions, huh? Well, everyone, Acquired Madness is back and ready to kick things up right back into motion. Go ahead and tell your friends, let everyone know what you just witnessed. Let me know exactly how you feel in the reviews, you know your words fuel me when it comes to writing for you guys.**

 **Damn, when you have a horndog like Aria….then a lowkey horndog like Spencer….fucking confetti.**

 **Painful reminder that DG is coming to its "season finale" so you can definitely expect things to be kicked up.**

 **Can you say,** _ **"Hi, Mr. & Mrs. Hastings"?**_


	26. Chapter 26: The Anxiety of a Hastings

**So I see you're back for some more, eh?**

 **Was the smut too much for you, last chapter? Boy, I sure hope not. Were you surprised at what you read? It was pretty heavy** _ **buuut**_ **I believe you guys deserved a whole chapter of pretty filthy smut. These two have a pretty compatible sex life, I mean, who would have guessed?**

 **Now into the future of this story. I have mapped out exactly how this story will end and sadly, my babes, DG will end in three chapter after this one. So you can expect Chapter 29 to be the finale of this book with an extra chapter uploaded as the epilogue. The only way this information would be changed is if I separate the length of the chapters. For example, this chapter was supposed to be well over 13k words, however, I broke it up into two separate chapters instead. I honestly hope you guys have enjoyed the ride we've been on. Out of all of my created stories, this one would have to be one of my top favorites just because of how much these two make me laugh. I swear, I write this story and control everything but sometimes these characters take the life of their own haha. Truly a joy to share with everyone.**

 **Another quick thing, one reason I've taken some time to update this story (and all of my other stories) is because I decided to create trailer/teaser videos for almost each of my stories. Did DG get a teaser video created?** _ **You bet it did!**_ **I was going to upload it and link it to you guys at the end of this chapter but seeing that I split it, I'm going to release the video to you guys at the end of chapter 27. A quick lil' something something for you guys. It'll basically show you where we are in our story but in a video version to bring this to fic life :))))**

 **Anyways, let me stop rambling and allow you guys to get on with the story**

 **Shout out to the new readers reading this story right now. Hi, beautiful!**

CHAPTER #26: The Anxiety of a Hastings

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Aria finishes touching up her eyebrows with the last the thing needed to do as she checks herself in the mirror. Getting up early to do her college student errands for the morning, Aria plans on staying in the dorms for another few minutes before she's pushing herself out the door. Upon waking up, to her dismay, she woke up by herself in bed with Spencer nowhere in the room. She doesn't know exactly when Spencer left the bed but all she knew is when she got up and left the room, she found Spencer sprawled out on the couch in the living room. The same couch she told her to get up from last night. _But if she wants to go through the day with a crooked neck, then be my guest. I won't fight her on that._

 _8:17am._

Aria checks her phone as she unplug the charger from the bathroom wall. She puts away all of her makeup appliances and tools, grabs her bag -shoving her charger inside- and turns off the lights. Aria goes to walk out the door but catches a sharp pain shooting up her thigh and back that immobilizes her once again for the 500th time this morning. She knew what the price of rough sex was, especially for someone of her size and stature, and now she has to pay the consequences for it. However, she's came up with a whole elaborate story as to why she's walking with a slight limp as she was applying her makeup. She went to do yoga (because nobody would believe that she went to the gym) and while she was doing a complex position, she pulled a muscle which is causing the sore and tenderness in her body, therefore, the ultimate reason why she walking unsteadily. It's more believable then her first idea of having leg day at the gym and it's less frank then telling people Spencer had her in various sexual positions in a short amount of time. Next time, she tells herself, if they do anything that warrants them to get as physical as they were last night, they're going to hydrate and do a 10 minute stretching session prior.

Aria pushes herself out of the bathroom and into the living room, in direction of the front door, when her eyes float to Spencer on the couch not moving not a muscle. Since the brunette specified that she didn't have any classes today, Aria wasn't going to go out of her way to bother her. Lord knows the days she prayed to have a day to sleep in from all the work she's been plagued with so she understands. She makes her way to the door, slips on her shoes, grabs her keys off the key hook and walks back to the couch where she places a soft kiss on Spencer's forehead. Aria rests her hand on top of Spencer's head for a moment, gently stroking her hair as she watched her sleep before she quietly backed away and headed out of the dorm.

….

Unlocking the front door, Aria lets herself in with the thoughts of the day floating around in her mind when her sights stop her in her movements. She crinkles her eyes and digs into her jacket pocket, pulling out her phone and checks the lock screen.

 _What the hell?_

She tugs her key out of the door and closes it quietly behind her as she kept her eyes narrowed at the couch. It was three in the afternoon and Spencer was still sleeping on the couch. And it doesn't seem like she moved much from how she left her about seven hours prior. _No, she still can't be sleeping after all this time. She can't…. When the hell did she go to sleep?_

Aria strolls silently past the couch, carefully to not stir the brunette as she walks straight into her room. She stays in there for a total of twenty seconds before she walks back out, exchanging her books and purse for her laptop bag and journals. She eyes Spencer cautiously on her way towards the door and lets herself out again without wasting any more time.

…..

A little over seven in the evening, Aria comes back to the dorm from her writing club after being done with her long and draining day. She unlocks and opens the door, immediately putting her eyes on the couch to make sure Spencer was _still_ sleeping and that she wasn't in fact dead. However, contrary to her expectations, the couch was empty with Spencer nowhere to be found.

 _Ah. So she wasn't dead. Ok._ Aria talks to herself as she hooks up her keys and removes her shoes. During this process, a groggy Spencer emerges from the bathroom, looking like she just got back from shuffling her way out of hell with her hair disheveled, clothes wrinkled, and her face just barely hanging on.

"Hey, _sleepy head._ How are you feeling?" Aria curiously asks as she slips out of her jacket. Spencer simply grumbles and weakly waves off Aria as she trudged to the kitchen with her empty jug in hand.

"Why were you asleep the whole day? When did you go to sleep last night?"

Spencer sighs with her lowered eyes and bowed head as she attempted to clear her throat, "With last week being so busy, I'm just extremely tired and..." her scratchy voice trails off as she leans herself against one of the counters to balance herself, "I guess my body is shutting down. _Fuck,_ " she hisses out, rubbing her temple, "I feel like crap."

"Well, you look like it." Aria comments truthfully as she took her time walking inside the kitchen to Spencer's aid. Spencer lifts up her head with her eyes still squinted, this time at the smaller brunette herself.

"Why are you hobbling like a leprechaun that just got jumped?"

Aria rolls her eyes as she got closer to her, "I'm ignoring that." she goes in to swoop Spencer in for a hug but the moment her hands grabbed her waist, Spencer instantly jumps and pushes her hands away from her.

"No, please. I can't." Spencer shakes her head and slides to the side away from Aria, leaving her in a total state of confusion, " _Major_ sensory overload right now."

"Ooooh-kay." Aria sings with suspicious eyes and a pout, however upon brushing against Spencer, Aria detected a noticeable change in her temperature. "Why are you hot?" Aria slides over in front of the brunette and reaches for her hands.

" _Didn't_ _I just_ -" Spencer stops herself with her eyes slammed shut and lips pressed inwards, seeing that Aria is hard at listening at what she just finished telling her not even five seconds ago. She lets Aria feels around her hands, even though the slightest touch is putting her in pain.

"Are you sick?" Aria glances up at Spencer with her once suspicious eyes now turned wide and concerning.

"I don't know." Spencer pulls her hands out of Aria's grasp and turns herself around to face the sink, placing them on the counter to hold herself up, "Probably. I'm just exhausted."

Aria sadly groans and pressed her body against Spencer's back, wrapping her arms around her waist as she rested her face on the back of her long sleeved cotton sweatshirt, "I missed you today."

Spencer takes in a deep breath as she felt Aria pushing her body on hers. Seeing that it's going to be a long night with Aria simply not _listening_ , Spencer hangs her head in shame, "So the term sensory overload - _Ow. Pain. Don't touch-_ means absolutely nothing to you. Like nothing at all, huh?"

"What?" Aria lifts her head without loosening her hold on the taller brunette.

" _Oh nothing_." Spencer turns her head and forces a weak smile to Aria, "I was actually saying nothing. Just ignore me and my problems."

…...

 _Knock! Knock! Knock!_

"I got it, I got it." Aria calls out as she thrusts herself off the couch, pulling down her shirt and fixing herself as she approached the door. "It's about time you guys came. It's been over 20 minutes!" Aria unlocks and swings open the door just to have an unexpected visitor standing on the other side that didn't resemble Mackenzie nor Alex.

" _Oh_. I'm sorry." Aria cringes at the tall male standing at the door, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah is, uh, Spencer here?" the blond responds, taking a sneak peek into the dorm past Aria, checking to see if Spencer was inside.

Aria's brow raises at the guy looking into their dorm with her not being able to block his nosy eyes since he clearly had a height advantage over her, "Yeah and _you are….?_ "

"It's for me, Aria." Spencer's voice floats in from behind her, along with the sound of keys jingling and shoes being put on. Aria turns around to see Spencer fully dressed and ready to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" Aria asks in surprise at Spencer's appearance, "Ken and Alex are coming for the project any minute now."

Spencer stands up straight, throwing her bag over her shoulder and makes eye contact with her guest standing on the other side of the door, "Andrew and I had a study session that we planned earlier…. _sorry_." she apologizes with a grimace and a small shoulder shrug as she makes her way towards the door, causing Aria to move over to the side, "I should be back in about an hour, an hour and a half. Bye."

" _Wait_." Aria stops Spencer before she and Andrew had the chance to run out the door, "You're not even going to introduce us or anything?" she inquiringly questions as she leans against the edge of the door.

Spencer regrettably nods her head, backtracking herself since she just totally bypassed the cordial thing to do when there are two strangers meeting for the first time, "Aria, this is _Andrew_ ; he's a friend of mine from high school." she points to the tall and rather handsome male who gives Aria a small smile, "Andrew, this is my roommate, _Aria_."

"Hi, Andrew." Aria waves politely at Spencer's friend that she's seeing for the first time/never heard Spencer even mentioning.

"Nice to meet you, Aria." Andrew nods back at the tiny brunette that Spencer only brought up in a conversation once.

"Okay, introductions made." Spencer claps impatiently as she looks in-between Aria and Andrew, "Now time to go, bye."

"Bye." By instinct, Aria leans in closely to give Spencer a kiss but catches herself the second she made the movement. Spencer makes up the hesitation with a hug instead that Aria quickly rested into with an awkward smile. Pulling apart, she waves Spencer and Andrew goodbye and closes the door behind them.

 _Okay…you won't have a secret relationship for long if you do non-secretive slip-ups like that. Aria, focus!_

….

" _Okaaaaay_ …" Aria sings as she comes back from her room into the living room with her collection of fountain pens she brought specifically for this assignment, "Who has the best penmanship?" At the drop of a second, Mackenzie and Alex both point at each other in hopes of giving the other person the job to write.

"You write better than I do!" Alex shoves Mackenzie to the side and hops off the couch to stand next to Aria, "He knows how to do the fancy letters with the swirls and the lines. Make him write it."

"We should put you to work…" Aria ponders out loud as both girls look down at Mackenzie as if he was on sale at an auction and they are examining their new purchase. Aria takes a step towards him, handing him the pens, grabbing the papers they printed from the coffee table, and giving it to him as well, " _Here_ , I need this written in the corner of that poster board in fancy yet ancient-like font."

Mackenzie scoffs at Aria's request as he separates all the work that was just given to him, "I'm not a word document, Aria. You just can't pick and choose what kind of font you want written."

" _Yes I can._ I want my fancy yet ancient font." Aria orders him as she leans into him with her hands on her hips, mirroring an unimpressed employer. She suddenly raises her hands and commences two loud claps, catching him off-guard, " _Chop chop!_ We don't have all day _._ "

While Mackenzie gives Aria a narrowed look, Alex laughs with no shame as she walks Aria over to the kitchen, leaving Mackenzie to do his appointed duty by himself. " _So_ , when is your lover going to be joining us?" she asks with her laughter dying down as she helps herself to an idle red apple that looked a bit lonely.

"Lover?" Aria slows down her steps with her eyes widening in near fear as if Alex just called her out with something secret.

"Spencer?"

" _Oh_." Aria rolls her eyes and sighs out in relief, walking over to her fridge and opening the door, "For a split second I totally forgot that you guys knew about us. I'm getting so used to hiding it from everyone that my heart just stopped when you said that."

"That right there is a shame, honestly." Alex shakes her head in disappointment before she takes a crunching bite out of her apple.

" _I know_ but what am I gonna do? We're just not ready yet." Aria closes the refrigerator door with her elbow as she holds a small bowl of green grapes, popping a few into her mouth, "Besides, I think she's getting sick. She hasn't been looking too well lately."

"That girl works her body to the bone." Alex remarks through a muffled mutter as she chews, "She needs rest before she ends up just crashing and _dying._ That's not healthy for her at all."

Aria swirls the bowl in her hand, looking down at the tiny spheres rolling around and bumping into each other as she chooses her words carefully and in a low voice, "Speaking of working bodies to the bone….I've noticed a change in our…." Aria glances up, giving Alex a knowing look with a raise of her eyebrows which instantly caught the olive-skinned girl's attention.

" _Good or bad?_ " she furrows her brows at Aria with her voice dropped down to a murmur so that lurking ears belonging to a certain male species couldn't listen on.

" _Good. Definitely good._ " Aria reassures her with a definite head nod, "Now it feels-it's just…" her eyes wonder around the kitchen, trying to find the right words to describe what she's feeling towards her and Spencer's recent activities, "it's a burst of energy or something, I don't know. It's just different like it's almost as if she….she _desires me more_ and you can tell in the performance." Aria picks up another grape and throws it into her mouth with cockiness, looking at Alex with a sly smile, "Makes me fucking good, if you ask me."

"And you guys still haven't used…"

Aria raises her hand to stop her friend, motioning down to her legs with a circular wave, "The story I told you about yoga?" Aria shamelessly shakes her head as she looks at Alex with taunting side-eyes, " _Lies._ I didn't do any yoga for this entire month."

" _Wait so_ …." Alex cocks her head to the side as she tries to put two and two together to understand what Aria was saying, "So you guys…? You guys…?" Aria simply gives Alex a slow, single head nod of confirmation as she pops another grape in her mouth. She carefully and patiently waits for the dots to connect within Alex's head before she witnesses the lightbulb going off and brightening up her face, " _Holy shit!_ "

"You know it is so rude to whisper around people, right?" Mackenzie's voice floats from in front of the couch as he tried to work on the project with Aria and Alex murmuring back and forth amongst each other like high-schoolers.

"Sorry, this is girl talk." Aria shrugs carelessly as she shoots a glance over at their third party.

"Finish your work peasant." Alex spits back, adding onto the carelessness before she turned back to Aria with her hushed voice and peaked interest, "Okay, like…I'm not trying to pry or anything but _details!_ What, when, where, and how?"

"Don't you see me?" Aria outstretches her arms, giving Alex a complete display of her size, "I'm tiny. I can't withstand certain things for long. Besides, like I said, this is a visible change. Now, it might have to do with the bit of teasing from my part but that girl is a girl of many marvels." a smirks runs across the smaller brunette's face as she leaned herself against the counter, taking in some more grapes.

"Do you see all seven wonders of the world while you two are going at it?" Alex eyes Aria warily with a slick, smug smile of her own as she raises her apple up to her lips, "Because that's how you're making it seem like right now."

"As a matter of fact, I do. And let me tell you…Rome is _breathtakingly_ beautiful."

"….Rome isn't one of the seven wonders."

"It's one of the New7Wonders of the world." Aria relays back with her head still held high from the satisfied feeling of her past few days, "And you can bet your ass I've been there during our _intimate, loving moments_ that you wish you had." she teases with a wag of her finger.

"Ok goodbye." Alex rolls her eyes through her chewing as she began to walk away from Aria out of the kitchen, "I'm not the one waddling through campus, looking like I need a walker."

"Hey, I'd use a walker proudly! I'm not afraid to say that I was made crippled by the person I love. It comes with the territory!"

…

Not too long into their session, Alex had to leave for another class that she had scheduled within the middle of the day. That only left Aria and Mackenzie to continue on the group project seeing that only half of the group was actually there to work on it. Every so often, Aria looked at her phone to check the time, hoping that Spencer and her friend, Andrew, were done with their studying and that she would be on her way back.

"What were you and Alexandria talking about when you guys were whispering in the kitchen earlier?" not looking up from the notebook he had in his hand, Mackenzie curiously asks Aria as he sits on the couch, comparing Aria's note to his on his laptop.

"Not much." Aria keeps her eyes on her phone as she sits next to him. She casually shrugs, "Just boring girl talk. Nothing worth repeating."

" _Hm_ …You wouldn't be lying to me would you?"

"Why would I lie about girl talk? That's what it was."

"You guys never snuck away to have girl talk before." Mackenzie peels his eyes off the notebook and he sets it down on top of the laptop keyboard as he changes his sights on Aria next to him, "You wouldn't care if I was in the room before you guys start talking about your personal issues."

" _And that's why we moved._ Because it was personal." Aria defends herself to a particular nosy Ken this afternoon. Although he was right about all four of them always talking about whatever under the sun with one another, her and Spencer's sex life was something she didn't want to make a topic of discussion when it came to him. Alex is one thing but with Ken? She just didn't want to get into that territory too much. The only time she could see her talking to him about those kind of things is if there was advice/pointers being given but she doubts they would having that conversation anytime soon.

The blond's mouth opens in surprise, observing a nonchalant Aria. Normally he wouldn't push so much but when groups start to separate themselves, whispering amongst one another when another friend is in the same room, eyebrows will be raised from just about anyone. "What's so personal that you could tell Alex but not me? I tell you everything."

"Why is this such a big deal?" Aria can't help but to laugh to herself at this situation she and Ken found themselves into. _Is it really that serious? It can't be that serious._

" _Because!_ I just want to know."

Aria rolls her eyes and pushes herself off the couch, turning around to look down at Mackenzie, "You're like an annoying big brother, you know that?"

"Well, if you told me, I wouldn't be so annoying." Mackenzie leans over and places his laptop and the brunette's notebook on the coffee table before he rose to his feet as well. This caused Aria, who was just looking down at him, to drift her eyes upwards because of his height over her. If there was one thing she hated, it's when people tower over her and look down on her in an almost controlling way. And that's exactly what she felt Mackenzie was doing, just to get under her skin.

"Don't worry about it." she waves him off as she glances her phone in her hand again, ignoring him all together, "It's grown up stuff."

Mackenzie laughs, " _Grown up?_ You're not even tall enough to go on a grown up sized ride at Disney World!" Aria gasps at the short jab that was just blasted at her. Along with people towering over her, Aria certainly and never has been a fan of short jokes mocking her size. Tightly grasping her phone in her hand, Aria takes a step forward and cocks her lower leg back, aiming to inflict pain on Mackenzie leg with a kick. However, the blond gets cocky with more short jokes and steps up to Aria, causing her already mid-swing to miss his leg all together and end up going higher to strike his groin. Immediately, Mackenzie lets out a high-pitched yelp as he grabs himself in reflexes while Aria gawks at him with her hands over her mouth and wide, terrified eyes to match.

"I'm so sorry!" she quickly gasps from behind her hands as Mackenzie crouches over to try to alleviate his pain, groaning at one of the worst pains felt imaginable.

"So that's what midgets do?" Ken grunts through the attack, looking at Aria from the side of his eyes as he tried to catch his breath, " _Inflict pain on people?!_ "

" _No!_ I-" Before Aria was able to plead out her regret, Mackenzie lunges for the smaller brunette, wrapping his arms around her as he propels Aria into the couch behind her. The masculine friend holds Aria down as she continues to say her peace, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"I bet you are!" Mackenzie taunts before the rapid assault of tickles commences, causing Aria to shriek out her laughter. She slams her eyes shut and clenches her body as she tried to wrangle herself from Mackenzie body weight on top of her. "What were you and Alex were talking about, huh? You guys were talking about me?"

" _Noooo!_ " Aria huffs out, trying to breathe as Mackenzie's fingers ran up, down, and all around her sides, "Get…. _S-s-stop! Pl-please!_ " Aria attempts to slide her body backwards to allow her feet to slip out from under him so she could possibly kick Mackenzie off of her. However, every time she moved, he mirror her movement and made his fingers move faster to the point Aria thought she was going to pass out.

Just then the front door swings open and Mackenzie head instantly jerked up to see Spencer eyeing him with a suspicious stare, standing completely still with the door knob still in her hand.

"Hey, Spencenator." Mackenzie stops tickling and loosens his weight off of Aria, allowing her to quickly move from under him and jump to her feet, still trying to find her breath with the sensation of Mackenzie's fingers on her sides still lingering.

"H-hey, Spencer."

"Hi…" Spencer lets out slowly as she removes her key from the lock and closes the door behind her, not sure what she just walked into.

Aria readjusts the bottom of her shirt as she walks to the other side of the couch, watching Spencer crouch down to take off her shoes that was starting to kill her feet, "How was your study session with Andrew?"

"It was good. Got what we needed done." Spencer glances up at Aria and Mackenzie as she slips her out her heel, " _And you guys?_ "

"Got most of it done until Aria wanted to start gossiping secrets and leave people out of it." Mackenzie teases with a small nudge to Aria's shoulder. He subtly readjusts the crotch of jeans as he still feels the sting from Aria's kick. He always remembers how girls hate seeing guys readjusts themselves so he tried to do it as nonchalant as possible.

Spencer simply nods her head as she puts her shoes to the side and stands up, looking directly as Mackenzie for a brief moment before she walked towards the kitchen bar and places her bag on the counter. "Ok well, I have some things I have to take care of _so_..."

Aria looks over her shoulder at Mackenzie and gives him a silent look towards the door, something that not only did Ken pick up on but so did Spencer. The blond nods his head and waltz his way back to the couch to assemble his things. While he got himself together, Aria walks towards Spencer, giving her a small smile. Spencer raises both brows and presses her lips inward in a forced smile of her own.

"Well, I'll be on my way." Mackenzie tosses his bag over his shoulder as places his phone in his back pocket while he heads towards the door where his shoes were, "I hope you feel better, Spence."

"Why wouldn't I?" Spencer retorts back with her eyes squinted at him.

"Aria said that she thinks you're coming down with something."

"Yeah." Aria and Spencer meet glances with Aria's being more concerned, "With your hot temperature and how you were all zombie like yesterday, you had me worried."

"But, I'm gone. _Later_." Mackenzie waves his way out and exits their dorm in that same moment, leaving Spencer and Aria by themselves in the silence.

Aria looks back at Spencer who seems to be advoiding her eyes while she rummages through her stuff. Aria takes in a couple second of just staring at Spencer before she decided to speak up, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just….racked my brain with Andrew." smoothing back her hair with a sigh, Spencer responds almost dryly to Aria's apprehension while her thoughts were elsewhere.

Aria places a hand on Spencer's arm as she steps in closer to the taller brunette, "I'm afraid you're working yourself to death. You really need to rest."

"I'm fine." Spencer shakes her head as she pulls a few strands of hair behind her ear, "If I feel tired, I'll lay down, okay?"

"Okay." Aria mutters quietly as she rubbed her fingers in a circular motion. Continuing to look onto Spencer who hasn't look at her yet, Aria forces herself to come in-between Spencer in her bag, wrapping her arms around her waist so that Spencer had no choice but to look down at her. While it annoyed her when others looked down upon her, she never had that feeling when it came to Spencer. Sometimes she actually liked it when Spencer would gaze down at her with soft eyes. It made her feel safe in an unexplainable way.

" _I've missed you_." Aria pouts in a whisper, making Spencer sway side to side with her, "I've actually missed you since yesterday since we barely talked."

"We did talk, what are you talking about?" Spencer couldn't help but fall into one of Aria's obvious traps for attention as she looks up at her with her big and rounded eyes.

"Yeah but we didn't _talk,_ _talk_."

"We did _talk, talk_ …."

"Not the way I wanted to _talk, talk_."

"Well, how much _talking_ did you want to talk?" Spencer voice rises with the ending of her question as she looked at Aria with a sense of confusion.

"I actually didn't want to talk…"

" _Good grief, woman._ You and this ambiguous talking about us not talking when you didn't even want to talk is hurting my already swollen brain."

Aria begins to laugh as she unconsciously rests her forehead on Spencer chest for a moment, just finding their current conversation funny before she looked back up at Spencer who is still suffering from the lack of understanding where Aria was coming from, "So then….. _let's not talk._ "

…

" **You have so many banquets and meetings and gatherings and more meetings, and you're barely 21. What is going on?"**

" **The life of a Hastings."**

" **Why can't you be living the life of a Montgomery? Everything is laid back and we have baked goods."**

" **Tempting but I'll pass." Spencer checks her phone as she stands by the door, scrolling through her emails, "I saw the way you tried to cook that strudel last week.** _ **Keyword: attempted.**_ **" she exaggerates as she shoots Aria a glance as she laid on the couch with her feet propped up and rested on the armrest, "As in attempted murder because that's what you were aiming for once I bit into it."**

" **Okay,** _ **screw you**_ **. I didn't have all the ingredients so I had to improvise." Aria defends herself from Spencer's non-subtle way of saying she can't cook pastries as well as she thought she could.**

" **Well, your improvisation of a strudel tasted like lost dreams and The Great Depression of 1929."**

" **Again, screw you."**

" **You already did." Spencer smirks at Aria with a small taunting laugh as her hands unlocked the door and grabbed the handle to open it. Aria's mouth drops in a surprised notion and reaches for the small pillow she had resting behind her head and tosses at Spencer as she heads out the door. The pillow reaches the back of Spencer's head, causing her to spin around to see the smaller brunette now sitting up, expecting some sort of retaliation. And with Spencer bending down to pick up that pillow, she got one. She closed to the door, sliding her bag off her shoulders, and charged towards the couch with her weapon held tightly in her hands. She hops onto the furniture and sends a whack back to Aria who rose her arms out to deflect the hit. As Spencer tries to get a clear shot at the brunette, Aria quickly swung her arms around Spencer's neck, pulling her down into her as she simultaneously wrapped her legs around her hips to hold Spencer captive her in koala-like grasp.**

 _ **And in that moment Spencer knew….she fucked up.**_

" **Aria, no-" Spencer's pleas were quickly silenced by Aria's lips as she kissed her. Spencer dropped the pillow and used her hands to push against the cushions of the couch, however, wherever she moved, Aria clung on. And clung on tightly. As much as Spencer would never turn down a kiss, she tried her hardest to move her face away from Aria's but every movement just gave Aria another place to put her mouth.**

" **I have…I have to go!" Spencer struggles to get up as Aria works just as hard to keep Spencer down. The smaller brunette trails kisses up and down Spencer's jaw, chin, and her neck in means to achieve what she wanted at the moment. The almost forbidden feeling with Spencer resisting her only fueled Aria, giving her a rush that she wanting to act out.**

" **Just a quick minute. That's all…" Aria murmurs into Spencer's skin as she quickly realigned her legs around Spencer's hips before she had the chance to peel them off of her.**

" _ **Aria, noooo…."**_

" _ **Spencer, yeeeesss…."**_

"Spencer Hastings?"

Spencer jolts up at the calling of her name as she waited patiently outside in the hallway of the office she was visiting. "Yes?"

"You need to see Dr. Addison?" the young woman stands outside the office doors with a clipboard and pen in hand.

"Yes, please." Spencer rises out of her chair and swings her bag over her shoulder, prepping herself to talk to Dr. Addison to voice how she feels about everything GPA related.

"She is in her office and will be able to see you now." the woman points Spencer to Dr. Addison's office down the hall.

Spencer nods her head, returning her sight to the assumed assistant to the advisor, "Thank you very much." She wastes no time and walks down the appointed hallway and knocks on the closed door, awaiting for someone to let her in. Spencer watches the door knob turn and the door slowly pull back, when the person she wasn't expecting to see literally knocks the words out of her upon sight.

" _M-m-m-mom?_ " Spencer sputters out, gripping her bag tighter as she sees the full picture of her mother and Dr. Addison conversing in her office. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

"Well, she's thrilled to see me." Veronica laughs with Dr. Addison as she extends her arms out to hug the stunned and hesitant brunette. Spencer hugs her mom back but the shock of a revelation causes her hug to come out a little stiff. "We're here for the William Showalter pre-party and for the following days until the banquet this Friday."

" _We're?_ " Spencer gulps at the thought of her whole entire family in the same public place after all this time of being separated.

"Melissa isn't here but she'll be here on Friday. Your father is out there on the main court talking to whomever he's talking to."

" _Oh_. I-I mean that's good but you guys really didn't have to come, it's-"

" _Nonsense._ " Veronica waves off Spencer with a look of disapproval, "Since when have we never supported each other especially at award banquets where one of us is being honored?" Spencer's mother glances over at Dr. Addison who backs her up as a family friend would as the sidekick, "Besides…I'm curious to see how college is treating you."

Spencer forces out the most strained smile in attempt to look sincerely happy when all she wanted to do is dart out of that room, " _Oh boy_." she mumbles under breath, masking it under her gritted teeth.

…..

Walking down the hallway of her dorm floor, Spencer's anxiety level begins to rise like no other with every step taken in the direction of her place. She tries to keep a cool and calm exterior, however all her brain was doing was firing off expletives as she puts her shuffles for her key and places it in the lock of her door. Upon opening to enter her dorm, Aria was just passing by the door on her way to the kitchen when she makes a detour to greet the brunette that left her in a particular mood.

" _Welcome back, bab_ -" Aria goes to wrap around Spencer for a hug when Spencer smacks her hand away just as quickly, sending a small jolt of a surprise from the random strike she had just received. Before Aria could properly give her 'WTF' response while she rubs her hand, Spencer clears her throat just as some woman walked in their dorm right behind her.

"So, this is my roommate, Aria." Spencer forces along the sudden introduction, pointing her hand at the smaller brunette who is standing clueless as to why and who is the older woman staring at her. "Aria, this is my _mother_." Spencer grimaces with her eyes widening in secrecy, using the advantage of standing in front of her mother so that she couldn't see her facial expressions.

Aria mouth drops with her eyes enlarging as well, " _Mrs. Hastings!_ " wearing a very loose tank with no bra underneath for "personal purposes", Aria uses her arm to cover her chest while extending out the other for a proper handshake, "Hi- _hello!_ Extremely glad to finally meet you!" Veronica smiles at Aria as she returns the firm handshake. Aria then looks down at her appearance with a feeling of embarrassment, " _Forgive me,_ I wish I could have known you were coming. I would have dressed a bit more appealing for a first impression."

Mrs. Hastings shakes her head with a small laugh, "No need, I've been to college before. I know how it is to throw on whatever without a care in the world. I actually wish I could still do that to be honest with you." Aria shares the laughter with Spencer's mother as Spencer watches the interaction between her mother and Aria. Even though a part of her is still sweating, she can't help but smile to see them too taking a liking to each other rather quickly. Her girlfriend and her mother laughing. Now if she could find a way to actually introduce Aria as her girlfriend that would be great.

"Are you two pretty close or just as close as roommates would be?" Veronica asks as she sets her purse down on their couch, beginning to get herself comfortable as she starts conversing with Aria.

"We're pretty close, I would say…" Aria nods her head with an uncertain pout. She looks over at Spencer who shares back a nervous glance.

"Yeah…close." the brunette nods her head as well.

"Yeah, we're close. She actually didn't like me in the beginning but now…we're like two frogs on a lily pad." Aria playfully nuzzle herself against Spencer's arm. She can feel the intensity radiating off Spencer's body and she tries to do the most she can to ease her down without giving off any unusual vibes, "She's actually told me lots about you."

Veronica raises a surprised eyebrow as she looked in Spencer's direction, working that skeptical motherly look ever so wonderfully, "Oh, she has, has she?"

 **"You know, if you listen quietly enough, you can hear souls burning in the depths of hell when you say her name."**

 **Aria cocks her head back with her eyebrows punched, "** _ **Veronica**_ **?"**

 **"Damn you, Aria." Spencer breathes out with a hiss, "Don't you have any respect for the dead?"**

 **Aria giggles as she snuggles into Spencer's back, grasping her tighter, "Maybe Alexandria is a spy. Maybe Mr. H is in on it and that's why he paired us." Aria lowers her voice with a smirk Spencer is able to detect without even looking at her, "Maybe I was sent to get information for your mother..."**

 **Spencer tightens her face with an amused look as she turns around to face Aria, "Well...looks like you got more than you bargained for."**

 **"I did** _ **but**_ **...I think I want more..." Aria slyly smiles before she reaches up and gives Spencer a kiss. Without seconds to waste, Aria grabs the reigns and pulls in Spencer closer, her lips hungrily grasping onto Spencer's before the taller brunette pushes Aria away with a grasp at both arms.**

 **"** _ **Uhmmm**_ **..." Spencer's mutters with her eyes closed before they flicker open to find a confused Aria, "I'm sorry but the thought of my mother ruminating through my head while your tongue is in my mouth isn't turning me on..." Spencer let's go of Aria and turns back around to see the folder again, "It makes me want to weep. Weep** _ **sorrowful**_ **tears."**

"She says how influential you are and ever since then, I've been dying to meet you." Aria smiles, peeking a glance over at Spencer who subtly shakes her head and walks off, grabbing a seat at the kitchen bar. She might as well sit herself down for this one because she didn't see her mother leaving anytime soon.

…

As Aria and Mrs. Hastings began sharing information, really getting to know one another within the time Veronica was over, Spencer stayed out of most of the conversation unless she was dragged in by either or. Things started sailing smoothly to the point Spencer's need to worry dissipated some. She knew that now she's going to be playing a risky game with her family close by. Although only two people know about them, Spencer would _like_ to tell her family about Aria so they wouldn't have to sneak around like high schoolers but she knew she would have to time this right; To get all her playing cards in order before she hits them with that huge blindside.

"Can I see the rooms? I want to see how much has changed since I've been here."

 _Here's comes the anxiety, back at it again!_

"Sure." Aria stands up and causally looks at Spencer for approval, although she was going to do it anyway. She just met this woman, how can she tell her no? Aria decides to take Mrs. Hastings to her room first, that way giving Spencer any extra time to fix up/hide anything she didn't want her mother seeing. However, all three of them walk into Aria's room to allow Veronica to make her comments. She notes how the rooms didn't change as much and how she liked Aria's artistic touch to the area.

"Are these all of your journals for art?" Veronica asks as she sees a pile of notebooks on Aria's desk.

"Just my writings. Stories, poetry, things like that." Aria politely corrects her. She already sees Veronica going towards her books so she decided to give her permission to see it since it looks like she was going to do it anyway. As the older woman grabs one of Aria's notebook and starts looking through the pages, another book underneath it slides off to the side a bit. Aria's eyes enlarge by 10 times and she immediately grabs the paperback and hides it behind her back before Veronica had the chance to see what she grabbed. Spencer jumps at Aria's sudden movement and suspiciously eyes what she was hiding from her mother. Bending down a bit to see what was in her hands, Spencer couldn't make out exactly what it was but by Aria's reaction, it must have beenshocking in some way _._

"You definitely have a knack for words, I love it." Veronica praises Aria's work as she continues to skim through the notebook.

"Thank you so much. That really means a lot." Aria smiles sweetly as she kept her secret out of sight, trying to make it look like she wasn't hiding something behind her back.

As the woman set down Aria's book, her phone sounds out it's ringtone in her purse that sat in the living room. She excuses herself before she quickly skips out the room to tend to her awaiting caller. With that free time, Spencer begins her grilling.

" _What was that?"_

"What was what?"

"That book behind your back."

"What book?"

Impatiently, Spencer spins Aria around and rips the book out of her hand as much as Aria tried to use all of her strength to hold onto it. As Spencer quickly opens the pages, Aria clears her throat.

"Okay, before you say anything…I just-"

" _Aria Marie Montgomery!_ " Spencer gasps out in a whisper so that her mother in the living room couldn't hear her, "What the hell is _this?!_ "

"Well, I-"

"You…..you… _you made a magazine of me?!_ " Spencer cuts her off as she quickly flipped through the few pages in the slim magazine-like book that held pictures of Spencer that Aria took of her: some of them causal such as Spencer typing on the computer or being super concentrated on something. Flipping through more pages, they deviate to more personal pictures:

Spencer holding Aria's hand,

A point of view shot from Aria with Spencer sleeping on top of her,

A photo of her lying in bed, staring hopelessly at Aria,

And the infamous playboy lingerie shot they did after the party they went to.

"When did you get this done?! _And WHY?!_ "

"I wanted my own little memorabilia of you, is that a _crime?_ " Aria snatches back her magazine out of Spencer's grasp with conviction as she tried to keep her voice down and unnoticeable, "I really liked the pictures I took and I wanted them printed out, _sue me._ "

"Why didn't you tell me about this before you starting printing all of these full length pictures?"

"Because if I did, you would get paranoid _–like you're doing right now-_ and then you won't allow me to take pictures of you anymore because you'll be afraid they'll "get out" as if I'm going to send this to everyone." Aria explains as she places the magazine somewhere hidden within her closet. Aria was planning on showing Spencer but with her said reasoning, she decided to keep it to herself for a while. She had just printed and put this book together and although it's mostly of Spencer with her behind the camera (with her various body parts making a debut such as her hands, arm, legs, or lower half) Aria just felt the need to document her relationship with the brunette. She was hitting a new chapter in her life and, not only to test out her growing photography skills, she wanted to make several different books. With this one being just of Spencer, it represented how she saw Spencer in her eyes. From the moments where they were romantic, the moments where it was just them vs the world, and even the moments when it was just Spencer battling herself, tired, indulged with her academics, Aria wanted to capture the essence of every single version of Spencer she fell in love with.

On the other side, even though Spencer is just incredibly on edge because of her mother, deep down within her, she finds this to be unbelievably endearing. The fact that Aria felt the need to blow up their pictures and create a book of it truly showed Spencer how much Aria adored her. Granted, she's never admitted to it but, in this case, actions speak louder than words. Now, if this was any other time, she most likely would have the same reaction of shock that would have blown over into appreciation. But, right now, she just didn't want to risk her mother finding out about this and questioning them. If she was going to come out with Aria, she wanted to do it her way.

The right way.

 **Uh oh.**

 **This is where things start getting hairy**

 **and I don't mean Harry Styles.**

 **Okay, that made no made sense. You can throw tomatoes at me.**

 **You've noticed a few things happening this chapter. You noticed a few things that could happen in the next chapters. Tell me about it! Review and spread the Sparia love before this book ends. :D**


	27. Chapter 27: Sparia or…Spenzie?

**Somethiiiing I've noticed….I know you guys enjoy this story (I enjoy writing it!), and in the beginning, you guys were pretty vocal about how you felt about this story. Now, as the story progresses, the amount of feedback declined pretty drastically? I'm not sure I've ever seen that before. Are you guys trying to tell me something, eh? Now, I can understand that the direction of the PLL not only drove viewers away from the show but from fanfiction all together, I toooottally get that. However, if you are still here, come on down :) I do not bite. Leave a fellow writer your opinion after reading! I really do enjoy every word that gets submitted. Even if it's just one word. It really gives me the motivation to keep pumping.**

 **Anyways! I have split up this chapter once again.** _ **I know, I know.**_ **I shouldn't be adding more chapters after I said things are ending!** **Forgive me, but I'm really keen on the timing being right as I end this story. Everything has to be just right. I can't just dump 17k words in a chapter of various things without giving you guys time to process it and digesting everything. Soooo…instead of shoving the whole watermelon in your mouth, I'm cutting it into slices.**

 **So when I said Chapter 29 is going to be the end….you can push it maaaaybe to Chapter 30.**

 **Oh, the agony!**

CHAPTER #27: Sparia or….Spenzie?

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Finding themselves in a different scenery than usual, Spencer throws herself onto the oversized bean bag chair that was set in the corner of Alex's room. The amount of groaning she's been doing since her and Aria got there was enough to make the neighboring dorm tenants complain but she couldn't help it. Things were about to get very hairy, very quickly and she didn't know what to do and how to prevent it. Either way, she knew what was bound to happen during this week.

"This is literally the _easiest_ thing to handle, Spence, you're overthinking this." Alex grabs her phone off the charger and hops into her bed as Spencer throws her head back, rubbing her face in total distress, "They're here for the weekend, not for the rest of the semester. All you have to do is pretend like you and Aria are friends _–which you are-_ and then _presto!_ You're scotch-free. Nothing to be worried about."

"Besides, they would _never in a million years_ think you and Aria are together." Mackenzie comments as he entered Alex's room with Aria trailing behind him, opening a pack of fruit rollups that she snagged from Alex's pantry. "You guys could still be goofy and playful around each other and nobody would say, _oh, look at them. They're so doing each other behind closed doors._ They would say, _oh look at them. Such good friends._ "

Aria nods her head as she falls right next to Spencer on the bean bag, "We've been hiding this whole entire time and nobody has suspected anything. What makes this any different?"

"My family is the nosiest, most judgmental family out there. It's not even about Aria, it's the fact that they're here and they're going to make life difficult for me." Spencer keeps her head leaned back, facing the ceiling as her words escape from her hands rested on her face, " _Why am I doing this? Why am I doing that? Why aren't I doing this? You should be doing this. When Melissa was in school…Melissa this, Melissa that. You should do what Melissa did._ _You know what, Spencer? You need to BE Melissa._ " Spencer sighs heavily and sits up straight to face everyone who had their eyes on her as she ranted, "I mean, I might as well go downtown to the courts and legally change my name to Melissa Hastings II since Spencer is just the afterbirth that slid right out as soon as Melissa was born."

"What's afterbirth?" Aria raises an eyebrow as she rips a piece of the colorful fruit roll up and bites into it.

"It's the placenta and amniotic sac that comes out after the baby is pushed out." Alex responds back, "It's red and bloody and slimy-looking."

Aria gasps with the candy hanging out of her mouth before she turns to shove Spencer's arm, " _Stop it._ You're not afterbirth, Spencer."

"Look, all this weekend is about is laying low." Mackenzie butts in with his thoughts, sitting next to Alex on her bed. Aria tugs a new piece of her fruit roll up and extends her hand to pass it to Spencer. All the brunette does is stare at the candy with a long face and waves it away before Aria purposely ignores her and shoves the sweet into her mouth instead, giving her something to eat while she mopes. "Besides, you need to focus on your game coming up. You can't bring all this shit onto the field when you need to be concentrating on your plays. You guys are undefeated-"

"No, we lost a game." Spencer pouts as she chews on the fruit rollup.

"Wait, you did?"

"I told you they did." Alex turns to look at Mackenzie expectedly with him baffled at this new discovery, "They lost against Duke."

Spencer sighs once more as she shakes her head, "Honestly, my mind is too busy being on the William Showalter party tonight. I have like six hours to get ready and I don't even feel like moving."

Mackenzie's ears perk up, hearing Spencer mention the party for the first time, "Hey, I'm going to that."

" _You are?_ " Spencer's eyes instantly widen as she leans forward in Mackenzie's direction.

"Yeah, I'm being honored at the banquet on Sunday." he casually responds back, not fully taking in Spencer's reaction to his remark.

" _You are?!_ " Aria and Alex chime in at the exact same time, matching Spencer surprised reaction as they all stare at the blond.

"I didn't tell you guys?"

" _No!_ "

"Oh my god, Ken! I need you to come with me." Spencer scoots to the edge of the bean bag chair with Aria quizzically staring at her, wondering what the sudden interest was.

"I'm already going to be there."

" _Nonononono_. Come _with_ me. You can sit at my table and be my distraction from my parents since Aria sure's the hell not coming."

" _Hey_ …." Aria calls out with her brows pinched together to Spencer's delivery for her last statement. The brunette turns around with a sad grimace, not trying to make Aria feel bad for her non-attendance since she's always went with Spencer all of all her events.

"I'm sorry."

"I know…" Aria replies back softly as she begins nibbling on her snack.

"Wait, why can't Aria go?" Alex asks as she sits confused as to what's going on that everyone else seemed to know about.

"It's an exclusive party." Mackenzie replies, "Only invitees can go. She can go to the banquet, though."

Keeping her sights still on Mackenzie and her new plan, Spencer folds her hands together and begins to beg. "Please, Ken, _pleaassseeeee. Come with me!_ "

"Fine, fine, _fine_. But if we're going together you need to start getting ready _now._ I know how you girls get. I've dated this one long enough to know that you guys need 18 hours just to get ready to go somewhere." Mackenzie hops to his feet with a small stretch of his limbs, "I'm not trying to get there late."

"Thank you!" Both Aria and Spencer throw out different kinds of smiles: Spencer's a smile of relief whereas Aria's was a small of appreciate for Mackenzie. Before anything else could happen, Aria hops up as well and begins pulling on Spencer's arm to get her to her feet to start with their nightly makeover that they're going to have to do.

" _Come on._ We haven't even gotten your outfit ready or anything! We have to start getting ready like _right now._ "

….

Digging inside of Spencer's wardrobe of special occasions, Aria becomes Spencer's private designer in the means of helping her not only choose an outfit but to help her with her hair and makeup too. Since she's not allowed to stand by her for this event, the least she can do is have a hand in what Spencer's going to look like before she sends her out the door. The two girls tried to cram enough preparations for the evening within the six hours they had to do so. With less than two hours left on the clock, and her dress and makeup done, Aria stands behind a sitting Spencer with a hot iron in hand as she creates sophisticated long waves to go hand and hand with Spencer's look for the party.

"You know…I'm thinking of maybe switching up." Aria runs a hand through her own hair, shaking it a bit, "Cut my hair short. Maybe dye it. Something new and _fresh_."

Spencer ponders to herself for a moment, before she goes back to her phone in her hands, "That wouldn't be so bad, actually. I could see that look on you."

"You can?"

"Mhmmm. Matter of a fact, I was thinking of getting bangs."

Aria removes the hot iron from Spencer's hair with her body leaning over to the side to look at Spencer with raised eyebrows, " _You with bangs?_ Now, that would be interesting to see."

"I could pull it off." Spencer pokes out her lips just as knocks were heard on the front door.

"No doubt that you probably can." Aria sets the iron on the sink counter and dusts off her hands as she walks from behind Spencer, out of the bathroom in direction of the door. Sitting still where she left her, Spencer starts typing her response to a message she had gotten.

 _Today 5:37pm_

 _Mom:_ About when will you be arriving? Do you need your father to come pick you up?

 _Uhm-hell no._

 _Spencer:_ I should be getting over there in about an hour or so. Don't worry, I have my own transportation there.

"Well, hot _damn_."

Spencer glances up from her phone to see Mackenzie resting against side of the door-frame in his soft and luxurious navy suit completed with a matching center vent and a peach dress shirt with French cuffs. His growing in balbo-styled facial hair and neatly groomed mane adds to his expensive, completed look which, they couldn't lie, surprised the girls a bit at how nice he cleans up for special occasions.

Spencer gazes Mackenzie up and down with a sense of amazement, "I could say the same about you."

" _Aaah! Lemme see, lemme see_." Mackenzie extends out his hand to rise Spencer to her feet so he could see Spencer's dress. So prim and feminine, her black cocktail dress with demure cap sleeves balances out nicely with the fitted skirt and a scooped neckline that created a classy yet sexy overall appearance. Turning her around to see her exposed back through the sheer, Aria grins greatly as Mackenzie continues on with his comments of praise. "With a dress like this, everyone's gonna know who Ms. Hastings is the moment she walks through the door."

"Thanks, Ken." Spencer blushes with a shy smile as she smooths the back of her dress and sits down into her chair.

Mackenzie takes a few steps into the bathroom Spencer and Aria were working in to peek a look at himself in the mirror, stroking his chin and patting down his hair, "So, you ready to go?"

"Uhmm, in a moment." Aria walks behind Mackenzie over to Spencer to finish her job, "There's still a few things we have to fix."

"Alright." the blond lifts up his sleeve to look at his white gold Men's watch before stepping back out of the bathroom towards their living room, "I'll just camp out here then. Take your time….but don't take your time at the same time because we got to _goooooo_."

….

Finally finishing up and ready to leave, Spencer goes into her room and grabs her clutch bag as Mackenzie stands by the front door, talking to someone on the phone.

"Make sure to take lots of pictures, okay? And tell you parents I said hi." Aria follows after Spencer as the taller brunette grabs her things to head out for the evening, " _Oh!_ And since you're gonna be already out there, can you pick up something on your way back? Maybe some pizza? I would get it but I'm too lazy to order any right now."

"Pictures, parents, and pizza. Got it." Spencer repeats as she walks out of her room with her heels clicking with every step. Aria chuckles lightly as she watches Spencer strut herself, working every single ensemble that clung to her body. She can't help but pat herself on the back for having such finesse for fashion because it was _her_ that made Spencer look like a million dollars; and for that she was damn proud.

"Yeah, you can go ahead and tell them that it was a last minute change." Mackenzie informs the other person on his line as he sees Spencer and Aria walking towards him. He makes a silent head jerk towards the door, prompting Spencer to nod her head in response. She turns around to face Aria in her tank and pajama pants which, for some reason at this moment, she just found incredibly adorable.

"Text me, okay?" Aria whispers with her big, rounded puppy eyes glued to Spencer's. Spencer nods her head with a soft smile before she went to lean down to kiss her. However, with Aria's already small size and Spencer's heels, the height-difference became unforgiving between the two. Spencer begins to giggle while Aria groans, seeing that this was going to be a problem. Instead, to fix that dilemma, Spencer grabs Aria's hand and leads her to the couch where she has the smaller brunette hop on top of. Allowing Aria to stand eye-level to Spencer for the first time, a bright smile slides across her face as she continues to hold Spencer's hand within hers.

"Don't worry tonight. Relax and have fun tonight, okay?"

" _Okay._ " Spencer steps closer and leans in for a kiss when Aria stops her mid-way, still looking into her eyes.

"Don't say okay just to agree with me. _Actually_ have fun tonight."

"Okay, I will."

"I mean it, Spencer."

" _Yes, Aria._ " Spencer responds with a slight whine, "I will not have a neurotic breakdown tonight." Without any second passing, Aria pulls Spencer into her for their awaited kiss goodbye. Keeping it rather simple and sweet without going over-sensual, their kiss goes a bit longer than a brief peck to the point Mackenzie loudly clears his throat to gain their attention to come up for air as he unlocks their door and continues on with his phone call. Aria laughs within their kiss, leaning her forehead against Spencer's as she looks down at their intertwined fingers.

"Time to send you off, _Cinderella_." she whispers with a smile.

"I'm going to call you as soon as we get there." Spencer replies in the same low tone.

"Okay." They lean in for a quick double peck before Spencer pulls away and Aria hops off the couch. Mackenzie holds the door open for Spencer approaching, raising up his wrist to see what time they had to drive out into the city to the hotel hosting the party.

" _WAIT!_ "Aria's voice booms with a small shriek, causing both of Spencer and Mackenzie to spin around with the quickness. "I didn't take a picture!"

" _Aria!_ " Mackenzie moans impatiently, almost feeling like _that_ kid that just wanted to go to homecoming but their parents kept holding them back because they wanted to take pictures.

" _Waitwaitwait_ just a second!" Aria calls out over her shoulder as she sprints over to her room to get her camera to take snapshots of the two and Spencer by herself. This is an important night and she can't believe she almost let them walk out with photographing the moment.

" _This girl_ …" Mackenzie rubs his temple, closing his eyes as Spencer just shakes her head with a quiet chuckle.

…

Arriving to the location of the pre-banquet party with Mackenzie driving, the dashing duo walk into the building to find all kinds of people lingering around in the lobby, some party-goers, some regular hotel guest. The two follow the signs placed by the school to their own private section of the hotel hosting the gathering. Upon getting there, towards the double doors into the banquet halls, there was a red carpet-like set up with a backdrop and photographers taking burst shots of people before they went in. Spencer and Mackenzie were quite surprised at the set up but quickly let the thought pass as they knew how exclusive the party was and how they coordinators probably wanted it to be "Hollywood". Mackenzie leads Spencer towards the carpet as they both start to prep and fix themselves for the pictures they knew would be taken and posted somewhere within the school and their social sites. Waiting for the group of friends that were getting their pictures taken, Mackenzie allows Spencer to walk the carpet first, giving her a solo opportunity for pictures. As she looks down at the floor, telling herself to not do anything stupid and to be normal, the hired "paparazzi" lived up to their job as the group of cameramen started shouting to get Spencer's attention to look at them. Feeling like an actual celebrity for a moment, the trick to the photographers were that out of the eight people taking pictures, only two of them were actually snapping photos while the rest of them were flashing their lights to make it seem like they all were in on it. However, unbeknownst to Spencer and everyone else, she poses with a hand on her hips, striking her fiercest pose as she looks slowly in the direction of every person with a camera.

" _OVER HERE!"_

" _RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE!"_

" _GIVE US A SMILE!'_

" _YOU LOOK STUNNING!"_

" _TURN OVER HERE, PLEASE!"_

" _HEY! THIS WAY!"_

Becoming temporarily blinded by the rapid flashes, Spencer waves Mackenzie over to stand with her. The blond fixes his cuff-links as he walks into the line of fire, being greeted by not only yelling but Spencer smiling.

"This is on another level of crazy." Spencer mutters through her teeth as Mackenzie got closer to her.

"They better get a good picture of us because I'd be damned if they posted this on Instagram while I look like a beluga whale." he whispers back as he took his position on the right of the brunette.

"Oh stop, you'll probably have the girls tripping over you the moment we get inside."

"Ha, I sure hope so." Mackenzie places his hand on the left side of Spencer's waist, standing close together as they took on the hungry photographers with focused and composed faces.

" _YES! TOGETHER!"_

" _CAN YOU BOTH LOOK TO THE LEFT, PLEASE?!"_

" _YOU GUYS LOOK SO HOT!"_

" _THIS WAY-THIS WAY!"_

" _LOOK AT THE ROYALTY IN FRONT OF US!"_

" _STRAIGHT AHEAD! YOU GUYS LOOK STRAIGHT HEAD!"_

The two only stand together for a total of eight seconds before Spencer disbands from Mackenzie and moves down the carpet, allowing him to get his few seconds by himself. The lights still left their effect on Spencer's sight as she inches towards the double doors slowly. Now that the entire hotel knows they're there, unfortunately, it's time to find her parents….

….

As the ceremony played on into the night with people mingling, eating, and enjoying themselves with small entertainment and speeches, Mackenzie stays with Spencer, per her request, as a sort of barrier between her and her parents and as someone she can talk to since she really didn't feel like conversing with others at the party. He was the closest thing she had to Aria and she just wanted this event to be done and over with so she could get back to her. The formalities and recognition is fun the first few times but when your entire life has circled around formalities and recognition, you get over the scene _really quickly._

"So, _Mackenzie,_ what are your plans after graduation? Anything you're preparing for now?" Peter Hastings pipes up and asks Mackenzie sitting next to Spencer at her and her family's appointed table.

" _Dad_." Spencer mumbles to get her father's attention, hoping that he wouldn't rack her guest as he normally does to everyone he meets.

Peter shakes his head shamelessly, raising his wine up to his lips for a sip, "I just want to know what's in his brain, that's all."

Mackenzie glance over at Spencer who gives him the silent cue to continue although the look of stress is slowly making its way back to onto her face. " _Uhm_ …" he scoots in closer to the table as he clears his throat, "The military has actually reached out to me for a possible job to design, test, and repair robots. But instead of them being actual robots, they're soldiers. They're sent into risky situations -such as a building that may contain a bomb, or a field of land mines- in lieu of human soldiers. It's just something on the table for right now but I plan on doing big things with this field."

Both of Spencer's parents nod their head approvingly at his response, "That's impressive, Mackenzie." Veronica comments with an intrigued smile.

Peter adds onto his wife's observation, "Agreed. I'd have to say you have a good head on your shoulders from what I've seen so far."

"And, if I could just throw it out there, you compliment Spencer very much."

"Well….Well, _thank you_ , Mr. and Mrs. Hastings." Mackenzie proudly smiles back with his eyes lighting up with delight. He had to admit, the way Spencer talked about her parents, he sat at that table ready to be hung. However, seeing that they were taking to him quite nicely, he could finally relax.

"I know as a mother I can be overbearing but that's just because I want the best for my family." Veronica tells Mackenzie, "And a smart –not to mention very handsome- young man who can be on our daughter's level intellectually and has a future that he's going out there to grab is certainly someone I would rather her seeing-"

" _Wait, what?"_ Spencer chokes on an ice cube from her glass of water, instantly looking back and forth between her parents and Mackenzie.

Mackenzie picks up the miscommunication as well. With a small chuckle, he tries to politely correct the mistake, " _Waitwait, Mrs. Hastings_ -"

"And to know that you're getting honored at the banquet on Friday says a lot about you." Veronica cuts off the blond's attempt, continuing on with her sentiment.

"Mom, we're-"

"When did you guys meet, again?" Peter tilts his head to the side as he grabs his fork and picks up a portion of food that was served to their table.

"Early this semester but mom, dad, we-"

Peter nods, completely disregarding Spencer's effort to speak, "You know I know some friends over down in Pittsburg that I could see you really working with post-graduation. I mean, serious work that most kids your age won't even get the opportunity for."

" _Mom_ -" Spencer stresses out as she tries to place her input for what feels like the 100th time.

"Spencer can you stop interrupting, please?" Veronica finally acknowledges her daughter but with the notion to be quiet. Spencer's eyes widen as her sight darts between her mother and father before she bites her tongue and sits back into her chair with her jaw clenched. Veronica and Peter turn back to Mackenzie who sits just as dumbfounded as Spencer, however, when he tried to say his peace, a voice on the microphone appeared to gather everyone's attention. Mackenzie looks over at Spencer who shakes her head at him, almost embarrassed. The relaxed night Aria told her to have was far gone now. Far, far gone.

…..

Coming in rather late from the event, Spencer enters her dorm with a box of pizza as Aria requested earlier. She doesn't see her right away and she's a bit relieved. The whole ride and walk back, Spencer was dreading how to tell the series of unfortunate events to Aria, hoping that she wouldn't blow up. As if things couldn't get any worse, not only does Spencer have to explain to her parents that she's not with Mackenzie and doesn't have a boyfriend, she has to explain that she has a _girlfriend_ and that it's her roommate.

"Spencer?"

 _Here we go…_

"I brought back a pie just as you asked," Spencer gloomily responds as she slips out of her heels and places the box on the bar counter. Aria emerges out of her room and smiles upon seeing the brunette, not catching onto her jittery, worn-out demeanor. Spencer looks up at her with weary eyes for a moment before she took a deep inhale and exhale.

" _I have something to tell you-"_

" _I've been thinking-"_ Both girls speak out at the exact time, gaining a small giggle from Aria, "I'm sorry, you go first."

"No," Spencer resists quickly, "You can go first. I want to hear what you have to say."

Aria waves her hand with a shake of her head as she walked over to the pizza box, "Nonono, you're the one with the big night. You go ahead." Spencer watches Aria grab a slice and waits for her, expecting some kind of report of her night. _Just….breeze right through it. Deal with the punches as they come._

"Mackenzie stayed with me the whole night and sat at my table with my parents. And out of tonight, I'm not sure _how_ but…." Spencer bites the inside of her cheek as she bares herself for the reveal, "…they believe Mackenzie and I are dating."

The room stays quiet –just as Spencer predicted it would- with Aria staring at Spencer as she slowly chewed on her pizza. Spencer stands there, awaiting a negative reaction and braces its time to come. For a long five seconds, the silence sitting between them becomes unbearable as Spencer stares back at Aria. Out of nowhere, Aria begins to laugh. And not just any small laughter, it was a kind of laugh you get when you land a really good joke and the other person has totally fell for it. This reaction kind of shocked Spencer because she didn't know where the humor was coming from. Was Aria laughing in a good way or in a bad way? Good way in that she's not mad and finds it funny. Bad way in that she's laughing to herself before she completely blows her lid because she's crazy that way. As she continues to giggle, Spencer stands in front of her with a slight grimace, expecting the latter.

"Wait-" Aria waves her down as she catches her breath, "So they think you and _Ken_ are dating? _As in a relationship?_ " Aria starts up her round of laughter as she bites into her pizza again. This reaction seemed to be on the "good" side so Spencer started relaxing just a bit, "Well, that was an honest yet funny mistake. I can almost see how you guys probably reacted to that."

"Yeah, we were like _what the fuck?_ " Spencer half-way chuckles along with Aria, trying to find the same amount of humor she did.

" _Hahaha!_ " Aria continues on with her deep belly laughter, " _Whew_. That was a good one. How did they react when you guys told them you weren't dating?" Aria looks up at Spencer as she rips off a piece of crust and throws it into her mouth, expecting the reveal of the joke.

Spencer grimaces with her head shamefully bowed away from Aria's eyes, "That's the problem…" she starts walking past Aria in the direction of her bedroom, "they don't."

"They don't what?" Aria asks with her smile still lingering, not exactly understanding what Spencer was saying.

"We never got the chance to clear it up. Every time we tried, we got interrupted."

"Well, you're gonna tell them, right?" Aria now follows behind Spencer into her room with her pizza slice still in hand, "Because while you've been gone, I've been thinking that….maybe it's time, Spencer."

"Time for what?" Spencer spins her head at the smaller brunette rather quickly as she started to unzip the back her evening dress to come out of.

"Time to… _you know_." Spencer rolls her eyes with a low groan, turning her face away from Aria as she pleaded her case as to why she believed now would be the appropriate time to come out to Spencer's family, "I mean, they're only here for a few days then they leave, right? I just think we should just….rip the band aid off. If they love you and support you the way they say, they'll still love you with us together."

" _Aria, please_." a whine comes from Spencer as she fully unclothed herself from her dress, still wearing her undergarments and nipple coverings. She opens her closet door, pulls out a hanger, and hangs the dress on top of the door to remind herself later that it needs to be dry-cleaned.

"It's just something I've been thinking!" Aria defends herself, jumping into Spencer bed to at the edge, watching Spencer get ready to sleep soon, "I just want to be able to go to banquets and parties and be there to support you."

"You've been at nearly _every_ event I've been to."

"Yeah, as Aria the roommate. I'm just some friend tagging along at those events."

"What is with this sudden push?" Spencer crinkled her eyes, curiously questioning the intentions while she threw a shirt over her head, pulling the ends down as she stared at Aria, peculiarly, "I thought we'd agree to stay off the radar until the time was right?"

Aria sighs groggily, finishing off the pizza that she still had, " _I know_ , but sitting here alone while you are out celebrating your success had me reevaluate things. I want to be there by your side, Spencer, and I think it's about time to tell your parents. I mean, we've proven to each other that we're more than a fling; that we're in for the long haul."

Slipping into her pajama pants, Spencer throws herself into her bed, not wanting to hear any more of the current discussion that Aria has blindsided her with, "I'm so tired right now. Can we please not?" She rolls herself under the warm bed covers with her back to Aria while Aria stared at her, almost unbelievably that Spencer was shutting her down so quickly without taking into consideration of what she was saying. Trying to get comfortable, Spencer tugs on the covers just to realize they were limited to movement. She picks up her head and turns around to see Aria sitting on them.

"Can you get off, please?"

Aria crossed her arms defiantly as she narrowed her eyes at the brunette, tightening her lips in disobedience, " _No_."

"Are you…are you serious, right now?" Spencer turns her body fully to face Aria and her rebelliousness.

Aria holds her stance, up-turning her nose without any sign of backing down, "You don't want to talk, you don't get any sheets."

"Whatever, Aria." not in the mood for any games, Spencer huffs as she turns back around, covering herself the little amount of covers she was granted with, "Do what you want. Be a fucking child, I don't care."

…..

Spencer lightly stirs in her bed, feeling her dream state fade away as her brain awakens her. She takes in a deep breath, sighing quietly to herself in a peaceful position for a good ten seconds before she slowly started to open her eyes. The light of the sun shining into Spencer's room causes her to blink several times to become adjusted when she realizes Aria is sitting up on the other side, staring down at her with her eyes narrowed, annoyed.

" _What the hell?_ " Spencer jumps back a bit, surprised that the first thing she saw when she woke up was Aria's face, peering down at her in a not so-loving way.

"Have you seen Instagram?" Aria greets a sleepy Spencer from her sleep.

" _Well_ …seeing that I was literally unconscious for the past eight hours _, no Aria_ , I wasn't able to check my social media in the realms of my REM sleep." Spencer closes her eyes again as she snuggles the side of her face deeper into her fluffy pillow, wanting to go right back into her slumber after having a pretty whacked out sleep schedule as of lately.

" _Well!_ " Aria clasps her hands together in fake glee, forcing Spencer to open one eye to look at her and her odd behavior so early in the day, "Let me be the one to read it to you," Aria reaches for her phone in her lap and clears her throat accordingly.

 _ **112 likes: UpennOnCampus**_ _GPA's Spencer Hastings + MEAM's Mackenzie Dillon = Upenn's power couple in the making? Both being honored at the banquet this Sunday, these two came together kicking ass and taking names from their impressive attire to their vogue-like poses at the pre-party red carpet-_

With Aria's words waking her up faster than any cup of coffee, Spencer immediately lunges for the smaller brunette and snatches the phone from out of her hands to see what the hell she was reading.

"And then you have people commenting all types of things like, _They're so cute together!_ _Best dressed couple, hands down_." Aria continues on with a mixture of shock, disappoint, and a twinge of disgust ruminating all in her voice and even worse on her face, "I even saw someone even give you guys the name Spenzie! _Spenzie?!_ " she repeats again with emphasis as she stares at Spencer still glaring at her phone with a death grip, rereading the picture's caption and comments repetitively, "People even have _a name_ for you guys! _Which!_ If I may add, sounds like a freaking venereal infection compared to the name Sparia."

"Son of a _bitch_ …" Spencer groans to herself as she sits fully straight up. She goes to her profile to check her tagged photos when she sees a couple other posts that she and Mackenzie were tagged in.

Aria checks Spencer up and down, clearly unsatisfied by the sudden news she found herself seeing, "I thought you said your parents are the only people who thought you guys were together?"

"They were!" Spencer response back with a small volume increase as she feels herself becoming anxious right out of her sleep.

"Now the whole university does!" Aria whines as she scoots in closer to Spencer, glancing over at her phone screen just to look at the photo again, "I mean, look at the way you guys are standing, with his arm around you. If I didn't know better, I would have thought you guys were dating too!" Tossing Aria back her phone, Spencer groans louder than before and hops out of her bed in a straight path towards the bathroom where she turns on the sink, cups her hands under the running cold water, just to throw it onto her face to fully wake herself up from this already hectic morning.

"Although I love this picture of you two, you guys have to clear this up like _ASAP_." Aria leans against the door frame with her arms crossed, keeping a watchful eye on Spencer and how she's reacting to everything, "This is just going to make things harder for when we come out."

Spencer splashes more cold water into her face, letting it drip off as she hoovers over the sink, looking down as she tries to get her thoughts together. Aria stands there, gawking at Spencer who reaches for a hanging hand towel to wipe her face for a silent five seconds before she speaks up again, feeling like Spencer isn't even taking heed to what's happening.

"… _Spencer!_ "

" _Aria!_ " Spencer yells back on beat, jerking her face at the brunette to see her wince at the sudden roaring snap, "Can I have a moment to myself, please?! _Shit!_ "

Aria is taken back by Spencer's mini blow up at her. All she could do is stand there wide eyed as she watches Spencer dry off her face in astonishment. Spencer has never yelled at her like that before so she doesn't know how to react yet alone what exactly to do with herself but to leave, just as Spencer ordered. She slowly pushes her shoulder off the door frame, taking one last look at Spencer who goes on to ignore her presence, and awkwardly turns to head to her room.

…..

With her home game just a few hours away, Spencer decides to head out to do some 'spring cleaning' and clear up the already infested air of her and Ken's dating rumors. The picture caught on with more than 100 likes and kept growing as the time pass and Spencer knew it was only going to get worse. _That's over 100 people,_ Spencer talks to herself as she walks to one of the campus' buildings. _That means over 100 people have seen the picture, read the caption and liked it. That means out of those 100 people, about 30 of them have either showed other people are talked about it. That means there are even more than 100, counting those who haven't liked the picture but are gossiping about this. Shit. Shitshitshit. Ok, Spencer, get it together. All you have to do is go to the source, deny the rumors and keep moving. Simple. Ugh, why the hell do I feel like a celebrity that got blasted on TMZ and now have to set the record straight? This is ridiculous._

Getting to the building that houses everything dealing with her association, Spencer finds the room belonging to all things media related and approaches one of the girls that she knew from the meetings and talked with on a few occasions.

" _Spencer!_ Hey!" the preppy blonde welcomes Spencer upon seeing her enter the room. The other working students turn around to look at the brunette stepping through the door and greet with a little too friendly of smiles and smirks.

"First and foremost, you were looking so hot last night and the guy on your arm was _dream-my_." the blonde breaks up the word with a tight hug of her notebook in her hand. She grins an approving and satisfied beam before she looked around, behind Spencer, "Where is your little eye-candy, by the way? I would _love_ to meet him."

" _Yeaaah_ …about that," Spencer sucks in air through her gritted teeth as she stands face to face with the GPA member, "What makes everyone think we're dating? We just so happened to carpool to the party together, didn't know that meant a relationship."

"Oh cut the shit, Spencer." another member rolls backwards in their computer chair, leaning back comfortably as they stretch out to see the brunette, "We've all suspected that you were seeing someone."

Spencer turns around to face the random student, halfway questioning why they felt the need to comment on a discussion that didn't include them, " _We've all?_ Who is we've all?"

"People that know you, Spencer. People who has been around you." another student speaks up, now gaining not only Spencer's attention, but the nosy eyes and smiles from the other four students who have put their work on hold to divulge into the latest campus gossip, " _We've noticed_."

"Noticed what?" Spencer now eyes everyone in the room, suspiciously. Slowly by surely, she feels her nerves starting to become agitated. The _one_ thing she wanted to avoid happening is not only _happening_ but it's blowing up in ways that she cannot control. And if there is anything Spencer Hastings hates more is not being able to have a firm grasp on a situation that she's in the middle of.

"We notice how you sneak off the side, talk to whomever on the phone with the small giggles and whispering and how you always come back with some goofy smile." the same student responds, swiveling in her chair as she taps her pen on her lower lip with a sly, knowing smirk.

"Plus with our last meeting, I saw you get a text and from that point on, you were squirming throughout almost the whole second half of the consultation." another student, this time male, added his two cents into the conversation, "You basically ran me down at the door when it ended!"

Spencer rolls her eyes with a heavy sigh, "Ok, I like how this all of a sudden just turned into a live show of the Spencer Hastings crucifixion-"

"It was just about time we found out who was on the other end of that phone, Spencer. And let me tell you," one of the female students clicks something on her computer before she gets up from her seat and walks by Spencer, on her way to the printer with a shake of her thumbs up, " _good fucking job_."

"Yes!" the blonde Spencer initially approached squeals in joy, "Mackenzie Dillion is so damn hot. Especially with that beard he's growing out? _Fuck._ " she groans as she leans against Spencer,"Please tell me you're hitting that at _least_ twice a week."

"Wh-what?" Spencer pushes the girl off her shoulders as she stares at her with a bamboozled look, not sure if she heard exactly what she thought she heard.

"To be honest, he looks like he's the type to be packing." one of the girls comment aloud before she quickly glances back at Spencer with a peaceful hand raised up, "No disrespect."

"Okay, look, Dakota and _heathens_ ," Spencer gives a set of narrowed eyes towards everyone as she starts her damage control, "Mackenzie and I are not dating, _alright?_ We are just friends."

The whole room snickers with mocking nods as they turn back to their computers, continuing on with their work. " _Just friends_ ," a voice calls out, "How many times have we heard that one?"

"Seriously, there is _nothing_ going on between us!"

"Then who over there is making you blush and bite your lip when you're talking on the phone? _Your mother?_ "

The room erupts with laughter while a high five was made. Spencer sees that this was going nowhere and she was campaigning to a difficult crowd so she goes ahead and begins heading towards the door, not wanting to deal with this for another second.

" _Alriiight_ …This is when I leave. Have a nice day and uh…" Spencer does a spin towards the assembly of fellow members one last time with a forced smile on her face, " _screw you all_." And with that, Spencer strolls herself out of the room with the perky blonde, Dakota, running after her.

"It's all a matter of time before we find out the truth, Spencer!" she yells out into the hallway as she holds onto the door-frame, watching Spencer walk away, obviously ignoring her. "Don't deny it! _Embrace it!_ "

…

Aria sings out loud, grooving to the music playing through her headphones as she shimmies herself towards the kitchen, giving somewhat of a show to the imaginary crowd she had watching her just as the front door flies open. She catches a mini heart attack for a moment before she rips an earbud out with an expecting smile.

"Did you fix it?"

"They know." Spencer huffs out with her face tight and brows furrowed in annoyance as she swings the door behind her, not caring that it just slammed itself shut.

Aria stands still, watching Spencer remove her shoes as she tries get the words out of her, "They know you guys aren't dating?"

"No, they know about us."

" _You told them?!_ " Aria rips her other earbud out of her ear so quickly that they could have flew out of her hands and she wouldn't have noticed. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree in the middle of New York City on a cold winter night as she feels everything become surreal. Feeling so exhilarated, at that moment, she felt like jumping on Spencer, so proud that she took the first step. Now, they wouldn't have to go into hiding! They could go out and enjoy themselves as a loving, normal coupl-

"No, _Aria._ " Spencer lets out a bothered groan, twisting her head in the brunette's direction and glaring at her as if she had completely lost her mind this morning. Aria's innocent grin simmers down to the ghost of what was once an excited smile to something that is now less happy and more saddened. "They know about me having some secret person on the side and they put two and two together. And that two and two so happens to equal Mackenzie."

Aria stares at Spencer for a silent second before she squints her eyes, getting confused by Spencer's explanation, "Wait, _so_ …." Aria fidgets, not knowing whether to move or not, "did you fix it?"

"I can't." Spencer sighs.

" _You can't?!_ " Aria nearly dropped her phone upon hearing the wrong two words she wasn't _clearly_ wasn't expecting to hear. Her feet take off without her brain processing and she finds herself speed walking out of the kitchen, " _Spencer!_ What do you mean-"

" _Aria!_ " Spencer blows in return just as loud, throwing her hands up in frustration as Aria approached her, "People are already suspecting I'm with someone!"

" _And?!_ That someone isn't Ken!"

"You don't think I know this?!" After her increasing bark back to everything Aria yelled at her, Spencer and Aria held such an intense eye contact that if they focused any harder, they would be able to shoot a hot laser beam right from their pupils and burn the first thing they looked at to a crisp. Spencer is the first one to pull away, making a disgusted moan as she throws her bag onto the couch, clutching the back of the furniture tightly under her hawk grip, "This is _exactly_ the kind of shit I wanted to avoid!" she shakes her head as her eyes dart around the living room in front of her, "I just…I just have to calculate this right.."

Aria lets herself cool down, trying to allow herself to be as calm as she can be because she knows no good would come out of both of them being upset, "Spencer…" she slowly steps to Spencer's back facing her, "this part right here is the most _easiest_ thing on the planet. All you had to do is tell people you and Ken are just friends. _That's it_." the smaller brunette places a composed hand on Spencer's shoulder and lowers her voice down softly as she gets closer to her, "And when that's out of the way…we can tell your parents about us." Spencer leans over the couch and swings down for her bag before she pushes herself back up, shaking Aria's hand off her as she pursues to her room. Feeling the slight hostility, Aria closes her eyes with a small exhale then opens them again just to follow after Spencer into her room and lean on the against the door, just to silently watch Spencer for a moment.

"This is clearly becoming a stressor on you and I don't want you to be any more tense than you already are..." Aria cautiously walks into the room towards Spencer who threw her bag on her desk and went into her closet to find her sports bag for her game that is set in a few hours. " _Baby_ …" Aria delicately whines to get Spencer's undivided attention. Spencer stops mid-way of her shuffling, throwing her head back and letting out a heavy sigh as Aria saunters her way in front of her, reaching for both of her hands to link with her own. She gazes up at Spencer with her large eyes and a frown to match as she holds their hands up underneath her chin. Spencer finally looks down at Aria, feeding into her puppy-like appearance after sharing a fire stare-down not even two minutes ago. It somewhat amazes Spencer at how quick the facials and the intensity of a room can change with just a soft voice, submitting eyes, and sweet name calling.

Aria raises their right hand and places a kiss on the back of Spencer's before she nuzzle up to them, resting on her the side of her face. "Let's…." Aria starts up in a small whisper, trying her best to keep this tender moment between them, "let's just…get this over with. Let's tell them today. At the game. _Please_."

And that's when the tender moment broke between them in Spencer's eyes.

" _God, Aria!_ " Spencer tugs her hands away from Aria as she spins on her heels away from the smaller brunette, now getting incredibly irritated at this crazy push that she already expressed her displeasure towards. She turns back around just to look at Aria's face to see if she's _actually serious_ or if she's playing some kind of joke. But upon noticing, she realize she was dead serious. And all that did was rev up Spencer even more, "You're supposed to be supporting me, not making things more difficult by forcing things on me!"

Aria drops her mouth, lifting up her shoulders in defense as she tries to sputter some kind of response to Spencer's accusation of her being a burden, "I'm not forcing! I-"

"Oh no, but my hands and legs are bounded as you push me into the lion's den, right?" Spencer crosses her arms are she looks down at Aria with her eyes now darkened than before.

"No!" Aria retorts back protectively. She reaches out for the brunette's hand again to calm her down and explain things so it won't get out of hand and she could at least understand where she's coming from, "Spenc-"

"I need to get ready for the game, I can't do this with you right now." Upon their hand contact, Spencer twirls Aria around in the opposite direction and used her palms rested on her back to push Aria towards the door. Aria doesn't even have the chance to understand what's happening before she is sent out of Spencer's room. She goes to turn around to say something when she is met with the closing and locking of the white, wooden door that's now separating her and Spencer. Aria stands there silently, speechless at everything as she stares at the door, not having any kind of words that could express how she felt at that exact moment.

 _But….Spencer is right…_ Aria tells herself as she turns around and slowly walks into her own room. _I wouldn't want to be the reason to throw her off of her game._

….

"Mr. and Mrs. Hastings! Over here!" Mackenzie waves over the two confused parents that were searching for a seat in the bleachers to watch Spencer's lacrosse game. Seeing where the voice came from, Veronica taps Peter on the chest and points towards the section the trio of friends were sitting before they both made their way through the crowd. Aria give a warm smile as she braces herself to meet not only Spencer's mother again but to meet her father for the first time without her there.

"Looks like you got a good view," Peter compliments Mackenzie as he and his wife take their seats with the snacks that brought in hand, "Where is she? Which one is her?" Spencer's father scouts the field in search for his daughter in a handful of UPenn players that all look alike from their location.

Mackenzie leans over towards Peter and points his eyes in the direction of where Spencer stood, "She's over there on the far left with the bright, electric blue high-knee socks that Aria brought for her. _Of course_." the blond rolls his eyes playfully with a smile as he nudges Aria with his shoulder.

" _Hey_ , I have to make sure everyone sees her. That why when she does something good, everyone would know who did it." Aria proudly defends her shopping choices as she adjusts her outfit. Looking like she belonged with the cheerleaders, Aria threw on her best _I'm-the-supportive-girlfriend-that-no-one-knows-about_ cute apparel of wearing a replica of Spencer's white jersey all cut and tied up in various places and altered to not only fit her but to give it a feminine touch along with her red shorts, high ponytail, and a black dash under her eye to mimic the paint the players would normally wear on the field.

" _Aria?_ " Mr. Hastings scrunches up his face as if Mackenzie just uttered a foreign name. "Who's Aria?"

Veronica discreetly bumped her husband as she whispered to him, " _Peter, we went over this._ " She leans forward to look at the smaller brunette sitting on the opposite side of Mackenzie, "I'm sorry, Aria." she apologizes before she turned back to Peter, " _Peter_ , this is Aria Montgomery, Spencer's roommate that I told you about. _Aria_ , this is my husband, Peter."

"You can call me, Mr. Hastings." Peter adds in with a single nod as he glanced over at Aria. This move gained him a stern look from Veronica, warning him to not start during Spencer's game.

"Of course," Aria politely smiles as she gave a small wave to the man, "nice to meet you, Mr. Hastings."

"Likewise, Aria."

After a quick brief second of Mackenzie staying quiet, Aria steps on his shoe to get his attention and jerks her head in the direction of another person who has blatantly been ignored.

"Oh and-and this is Alexandria Sands." Mackenzie quickly throws Alex into the mix to meet Spencer's parents, "She's a friend of Spencer and ours and another member in the four musketeers."

"Hello, Alexandria. Nice to meet you." Veronica waves at the friend sitting at the end, seeing and particularly hearing about this friend for the first time. She takes in her brown skin and voluminous dark plum hair and immediately gravitated towards it, "I _love_ your hair. It looks beautiful."

"Thank you!" Alex gushes with hands folded together at the compliment. From what she could tell right then and there, she knew she was going to be liking Spencer's mother because of her good taste.

Aria sighs quietly to herself as everyone's attention went to the field where the game was now in session. After having the tiny fight they've had this morning, Aria can't help but think about it as she sits in such a proximate distance from the very parents she wanted to come clean to. With that thought gnawing at the back of her head, all Aria can do is be patient. Not only is she invisible but Mr. and Mrs. Hastings still believe that Mackenzie is the one Spencer cuddles with at night. Maybe Spencer will surprise her and actually tell them after the game as she hopes.

 _Now let's just hope she wins so that excited spirit gives her that push she needs._

 **Oh, no…none of that sounded good.**

 **Parents for Spencer equals stress and without her realizing it, Aria is adding to the stress as well. How will this all pan out? I wonder…**

 **DG promo video will be released for the next chapter. Don't worry, it's already done and finished, however, I have to wait until the ending of the next update to post it. Otherwise, it would be a spoiler. And this is a spoiler-free zone, people!**

 **You've made it this far, review your thoughts :)**


	28. Chapter 28: A Montgomery's Desperation

**First and foremost, I want to say thaaaank you to all of those who reviewed last chapter. You guys rid the lonely feeling I was feeling before :) Because, for a moment, I thought you all jumped ship. But now, it seems like we're all on the same boat again!**

 **In response to Thisis-A's question if Mackenzie and Alex were currently together: No. They did date in the past, which we learned when they first met with Spencer and Aria in chapter 20. But, they realized after half a year into their relationship that they would be better as friends as they've been three years prior. So, that means Mackenzie is a single man and ready to be used as a prop.**

 **#LifeGoals**

 **Now, with a nearly 15k worded chapter, I hope you guys can sit back, relax and enjoy this new installment of a, hopefully, favorite story of yours.**

CHAPTER #28: A Montgomery's Desperation

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

With the whistles being blown and clock hitting zero, the final score of the game ends at 14-10 with UPenn leading the pack against New York City's Columbia University for their first win of their conference game. This victory adds yet another win to the lady Quakers stats of 10-1. The crowd celebrates as the girls on the field tiredly high-five each other after shaking hands with the opposite team. Mackenzie leads everyone off the bleachers into the inside of the main entrance of the gymnasium where the players would be exiting to. Deciding to try to get somewhat close with Spencer's mother, Aria walks beside her on their travel and strikes up a conversation that she knew she had to pique an interest out of the woman. Problem was that she had very limited knowledge on the field that Mrs. Hastings strived in. Other than the things Spencer has told her about and witnessed from helping Spencer study, Aria didn't know what to bring up that would make her look smart.

"So, what made you decide to go into Law, Mrs. Hastings? It seems like a grueling field from just the work I see Spencer tackle every day."

"Well, truth be told, I did not grow up wanting to be a lawyer." Veronica gives Aria a small smile as they trailed behind Mackenzie and Peter walking ahead of them. Aria held onto Alex's arm and brought her into the conversation as well so she wouldn't feel completely left out and be the fifth wheel within the group and Spencer's parents (sixth wheel when Spencer comes to join them). "I actually wanted to go into finance and work on Wall Street. Then I've realized I need to be constantly challenged to be happy, and law seems like a profession where you can spend the rest of your life learning. The academic experience of it seems exciting, and it is also profession oriented, which seems like a rare combination. I like the kind of thinking it seems to involve, and I get really fired up about arguing with ideas. It seems like if you're not heartless at the end of it, you can contribute to society in a positive way."

Aria smiles at Veronica, her eyes lighting up just a tad as she held onto Alex's arm tighter without her realizing, "If the resemblance wasn't there, I could definitely tell Spencer is your daughter." Aria gushes to herself like a school girl, her grin growing bigger just thinking about her, "I can see Spencer within you. Those words are something I could hear her say. The drive is pretty much matched too because Spencer…..she definitely is one to get fired up and argue with you if she feels is necessary."

"Which is all the time." Alex comments, causing Aria and Veronica to laugh. Alex laughs because of the debates she would find herself in randomly when Spencer disagreed with something. Veronica laughed because she knows how argumentative Spencer has been since she was able to talk. And Aria laughs for a similar reason, however, in a different situation.

 **Spencer adds a generous amount of shampoo to her hands, closes the lid of the bottle, places it back on the shelf of the shower, and begins to lather her hair vigorously, "All I'm saying is that it is morally permissible to kill one innocent person to save the lives of more innocent people."**

" **And all** _ **I'm saying**_ **is that you are wrong and your way of thinking is flawed." Aria responses back as she stands under the shower head, rinsing the soap from her body with the hot water feeling amazing as it hits her skin.**

" **Ok. Case in point, the Trolley problem – which you should have already studied in Ethics class." Spencer starts up as she massages the soap into her hair, getting every inch of her scalp as she faces the back of a naked Aria, "Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull the lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. But, you notice that there is one person on the side track." Aria turns around, wiping the water from her eyes so that she can look at Spencer while the water falls onto her hair, "You have two options: Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person. You mean to tell me that if you kill that one person instead of five, it's wrong?"**

" **Yes!" Aria protests with no hesitation.**

" _ **Aria!**_ **You make no sense!" Spencer stops massaging just to cock her head to the side, gawking at Aria unbelievably, "You should turn the trolley onto the other track because it results in the least number of deaths! Ultimately, you're making a decision between five deaths and one death!"**

 **Aria's mouth hung open as she stared back at Spencer and her side of the debate, "I am** _ **appalled**_ **at your point of view that appears to be openly advocating the murder of an innocent bystander, Spencer Jill Hastings." Aria reaches for her conditioner on the shelf besides Spencer as they switch positions with Spencer under the water to wash out her shampoo, "You're say that saving five lives from an act of God justifies murdering one innocent person intentionally?** **That is not to say the five are guilty, but they are in harm's way by means of an unintended accident, the one is not."**

" **Murder is wrong,** _ **yes**_ **. It wrong because of the death of an innocent person. But where you are mistaken is that in this scenario, the results of what you deem "murder" is the same as the results of what they deem not murder; the deaths of innocent people occur whether or not you redirect the train."**

" _ **Uhm no**_ **, that is incorrect." Aria stops Spencer from continuing on when she got her pitch for her case all wrong, "Murder must, by definition, be premeditated. The accident in this scenario is not premeditated and a failure to act would not, therefore, be murder."**

" **Ok, first of all "** _ **premeditated**_ **" is to characterize by deliberate purpose, previous consideration, and some degree of planning." With her eyes closed, Spencer cuts Aria off before she had the chance to finish to give her the correct definition of the term she tried to use against her in their shower debate. "None of those characteristics of premeditated murder are true in switching the train to the other track. It is not a "deliberate purpose" because the trolley driver is forced into that decision by a less appealing alternative."**

" **Okay! Let's switch this up!" Aria gives a conniving smile as she smooths back her hair with the thick coating of conditioner, "A car is out of control and heading towards a bus stop. You can save the people in the stop. However, to do so, you will need to grab the woman next to you and push her under the oncoming car which will make it swerve away from the stop. Will you kill the woman standing next to you? Should she kill you to save the people at the stop?" Aria asks curiously as she eyes the brunette, "We cannot randomly sacrifice people for events going on nearby, no matter if they change the outcome to something we prefer."**

" **I will say the scenario does not apply because the one person's death actually prevents the death of others, while in Trolley Problem it is only an outcome." Spencer responds as she rubs her eyes open after getting the shampoo out of her hair, "Ultimately, this debate comes down to choosing how many people are to die: five or one. You are advocating the deaths of five people just to avoid the "murder" (which it is not) of just one person."**

" **The fact that more people survive does not meet your burden of proof that it is morally acceptable to kill someone to achieve that goal. You argue it is acceptable to kill a random person to save five more people from accidental harm, if this was correct then we would do this, but we don't. But whatever, killer." Aria shakes her head disapprovingly and turns around, looking over her shoulder, "Can you wash my back?"**

 **Spencer scrunches her brows, glancing at Aria up and down before she continued on with her showering, "Why don't you get the five people you let die to** _ **wash your back.**_ **"**

 **Aria giggles to herself as she reaches for Spencer's conditioner bottle, pops it open, and squeezes the liquid on top of Spencer's head, "Why don't you wash that out, you salty baby."**

 **Upon having conditioner dumped on her, Spencer cups water into her hands as throws it at Aria, causing her laugh some more.**

" _ **Okay! Stop!**_ **" Aria extends her hands out to deflect the incoming water assault.**

" **I bet the five people were screaming** _ **stop**_ **too while you let a train slice them into pieces!" Spencer continues the throwing of water like she was a kid at a waterpark, teasing another child.**

"I promise you, Spencer was arguing ever since she came out of the womb." Veronica laughs Aria out of her reminiscing, "She was literally fighting the nurses as if it was an all or nothing battle!"

"I would love to see baby pictures!" Aria excitedly jumps at the opportunity since they were on the subject, "Spencer has never showed me any. She refuses to dig into the past of embarrassing elementary school years."

" _Oh_ , do I have those to share." Veronica nods her head with a smug smirk as they come across a band of players leaving the locker rooms, heading out towards the gym lobby. Spencer notices her parents and her friends among the other supporters and walks over to them, taking a deep breath as she puts on a happy smile.

"Hi, guys!"

"Nice game, Spence!" Peter claps with his arms extended out for a hug, seeing his daughter for the first time since the winter break, "You guys were really dominating out there. You, especially, _of course_." he squeezes Spencer as everyone else stands around them, smiling. When they pull apart, Spencer then gives a hug to her mother and to each one of her friends, leaving Aria last.

"And here is your personal cheerleader." Veronica points at Aria with her hand, putting all the attention onto the smaller brunette, "Have you seen her outfit?"

Spencer slowly shakes her head, looking upon Aria in her customized apparel of her Jersey and short red shorts to match, "No, I haven't….I left before she did." her eyes last on her a little too long as she approached Aria.

"I have to show my support for the best player on the team somehow, right?" Aria smirks as she opens her arms, ready to receive Spencer within her hug. Spencer's eyes discreetly trace over Aria's small frame as she gets closer to give her a tight embrace. As they too disconnect, Aria's smile lingers on her face as her arms stay casually on Spencer's side, gazing up into Spencer's eyes as if they had their own secret language that they were communicating. The whole incident takes place for a few seconds, before Spencer drops her eyes rather quickly to look back at her parents.

"I'm, uh….I'm glad you guys were able to make it." Spencer nods her head at her parents, keeping her eyes low before she briefly looked up at their faces, "It really means a lot to me." her glances catches onto Alex and Ken who stand there knowing, waiting to see if Spencer was going to actually do it. If she was seriously going to come out right then and there in front of her parents.

" _Uhm_ …." Spencer clears her throat uncomfortably as she feels like her mouth was drying up like a fish thrown in the middle of a desert. With everyone looking at her, especially her parents who were wanting for her to speak, everything within Spencer started to become extremely jittery and unnerving. All of a sudden, she felt this heated wave engulf her. She could literally feel her pores opening up and, in a minute, her forehead was going to breakout in a sweat, "Well _…"_ she looked back down at Aria who looked back at her carefully curious. She felt the hesitation radiating from Spencer's body just as much as Spencer felt like she was about to confess to a crime.

" _Uhmmm_ …th-that-that was our first conference game." Spencer finally sputters out from her now stuttered speech, glancing up at her parents, "If we keep it up, we'll be a serious contender during the tournaments." she looks over at her friends who give her apprehensive glances back. She doesn't even want to turn her head to look over at Aria and how her expression might be so she directs her attention back to her parents that are smiling and nodding their heads at her said statement.

"Tell us something we don't know. You guys kick some serious ass out there." Peter comments back with Veronica agreeing with them. Spencer forces a smile back as Aria finally lets go of the stare she was giving Spencer and turned to her parents as well, joining in with the strained smile as well.

"Yeah, Spencer." Aria playfully nudges the brunette beside her through her gritted teeth, "Tell us something we _don't_ know."

….

After leaving the gym building post-Spencer's game, Mackenzie and Alex split from the tense air the group seemed to carry –giving Spencer their good luck wishes- and everyone migrated back to Spencer and Aria's dorm. Every second passing by that Spencer had Aria on one side and her parents on the other, Spencer was having the biggest, most inner freak-out. Every nerve in her body was on edge and every sensation she felt was heighten in the worst way possible. She didn't want to do anything yet alone talk because it was giving her a major overload. With how much she was shaking at that moment, she was certain if you put a cardboard box underneath her and played a hip hop beat, she'd be able to pop and lock with the best of them. Spencer rests herself against her couch with her mind going 2,000 miles per second as Aria stands close by.

" _Good God._ How the hell are you girls feeding yourselves with no food?" Peter remarks out loud as he nosily goes into their kitchen and opens their fridge, checking around for something to drink.

"We go food shopping about every two weeks or so with whatever left over money we have." Aria comments back, slightly embarrassed by their lack of flourishing food.

"Well, we're not going to let you guys starve." Veronica adds in as she takes a look in the refrigerator herself. She collects a mental list of the things that they could use before she backs away, opening her phone to check her banking app, "We'll go pick up some groceries on our way out. Living like that is unacceptable."

 _There's more unacceptable lifestyle living going on in this dorm than an empty fridge,_ Spencer shoots a comeback to her mom's comment in her head.

Her parents didn't come to lounge around, only planning on bringing the girls back just to leave, so as soon as they made the notion of going food shopping for the girls, they were ready to head out if nothing else was needed.

"So, everything is good, here? You guys are fine?" Veronica asked as she and her husband headed for the door.

"Yeah, we're fine. Thanks." Spencer lazily waves them a goodbye with an arm that felt like she had heavy rocks weighing them down. Aria chews on her bottom lip thoughtfully for a quick second before she spoke up.

"Actually…..there is something I wanted to say-"

Spencer immediately spun her head towards Aria with all the energy she had left and shot her the most fieriest, intense glare Aria has ever seen in her life. Unfortunately, the parents stopped and placed all their focus on the smaller brunette to hear what she had to say. Without wasting time, Spencer hops up just as quick and walks over to Aria's side, keeping her eyes and smile on the adults.

"She wanted to tell you guys that she is a vegetarian," Spencer finishes Aria's sentence with such swiftness in her words, "She's not a big fan of consuming animals whereas we can without a second thought."

Aria forces out a small laugh as she is left with no choice but to nod her head in agreement, "Yeah…. _Committed Vegetarian over here_."

"Oh okay! We'll keep that in mind, thank you for telling us." Veronica thanks the girls accordingly.

"It's no problem." Spencer cheerfully responds back with a wave, "See you guys later. Love you."

Mr. and Mrs. Hastings wave back as they open and begin walking out the front door, "Love you too. Bye."

Spencer holds her innocent smile until her parents closed the door and she knew they were far enough away from the door to be in earshot. When the coast is cleared, Spencer jerks her neck to Aria, changing from a once happy smile to a burning glower that could probably scorch the smaller brunette alive.

" _Are you out of your_ _fucking mind?!_ " Spencer growls heavily into Aria, keeping her voice down just in case her vocals wanted to travel down the dorm halls and into the same soundwaves her parents were still currently in, "What _the hell were you doing?!_ "

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"Oh, you _are_ sorry! That stunt you almost pulled _was_ sorry!" Spencer dangerously leans into Aria, causing her to back away from the sudden closeness of Spencer's face and warning finger, "Let me tell you something, don't you _ever_ in your life, _ever_ , try that shit again with my parents, my family, or to anyone on this planet for that matter!" Spencer voice increases as she soon corners Aria into a wall with nowhere else to go, "I told you I wasn't ready and you should give me the fucking common decency to respect that!"

" _I'm sorry_! I wasn't thinking _._ " Aria cries out, trying to plead her case to a fuming Spencer. She sighs greatly as she bows her head, letting it hang in pity, "It's just I'm tired, _Spencer!_ " she says before she glances back up with her enlarged hazel eyes, "I'm tired of being a secret! I did it with Ezra and I told myself that I wouldn't be that girl again. That girl that has to hide in the shadows just because of the fear of public scrutiny."

"Then you chose the wrong person to be with, Aria!" Spencer barks back, seemingly zero percent affecting by Aria's story or her imploring eyes, "Don't you watch TV? Read books? Listen to the news?! It takes gay people _years,_ sometimes waiting until they are in their old age, to come out to people. YEARS! And here you are trying to force me out within a few months of us being together." Spencer wildly shakes her head at the comprehensive thought at what's going on and to how close Aria was from throwing her into the line of immense fire, "Have…have you gone _mad_?! Or are you just thinking about yourself?!"

"I'm not thinking about _myself_." Aria glares at Spencer with broken spirits. With her wilted, rounded eyes, pouted lips, and hands balled up into fists, Aria felt herself shrinking with every word Spencer hurled at her. She didn't mean to jump the gun on making their relationship known, she swears. It was that she was so wrapped in her mind at that moment, it was almost surreal when her mouth started moving before her brain could comprehend what she was doing. In no way did she intend to start problems but the way Spencer was jumping on her, she felt like the world's biggest idiot. Not wanting to hear anything else, Aria ducks out of Spencer's way and moves past her to walk to her room. However, Spencer wasn't going to let her off that easily. She followed after the brunette into her own private room and continued on with her ranting,

"Then please elaborate to me what the _hell_ did you thought was going to happen, Aria?" Spencer raises her question at Aria as she curiously asks in completely sincerity, really wanting to know Aria's answer. "You were going to stop my parents, " _There is something I need to say_ ", tell them that you aren't just my roommate and that we've been actively dating for months and think they were going to cheer, give you a high-five, and a pack of roses?! Did you honestly think with that brain of yours that anything _good_ was going to come out of that blindside?! _Huh?!_ "

Aria lowers her head slightly, glaring at Spencer through the ridge of her nose. Almost holding the stance of an emotionally upset child with her fists tightening at her sides. This was the first time she genuinely felt any kind of true anger towards Spencer and it felt like she was almost in some kind of alternate universe. After all the laughs and great moments they've shared, she never thought she could ever have detestation for her. But, at that exact moment in time, she really wanted Spencer to get out of her sight before she lost control of herself.

"Don't be silent now because you _surely_ had a lot on your mind to say two minutes ago!" Spencer calls her out, fully ignoring the smaller brunette's overall appearance.

" _Get out_." Aria angrily shakes through her clenched teeth and whispered voice as she riskily gave her warning.

"No, I'm not leaving until you give me an answer!"

" _Spencer_ …."

Challenging Aria, the taller brunette crosses her arms tightly against her chest as she mounted her feet into the floor underneath her, "I'm not moving," she spoke back with spite.

"The hell you're not!" Aria finally blows over and marches over to Spencer. She lands her hands on the brunette's crossed arms and thrusted her body forwards to put all of her weight into a powerful shove. Spencer's feet stumbles backwards quickly as she wobbles from the unexpected push. Already by the door, Spencer opens her mouth to release a plethora of words when she is blindsides by the sound of a low growl following another thrust backwards. Spencer nearly trips over her feet, trying to hold onto the door handle for balance and missing it. Her eyes snap upwards to meet Aria's flaming hazel ones as she stomps over to her.

"Did you serio-"

Aria hurls her door shut into its frame, creating a thunderous slam to cut Spencer's sentence abruptly short. She hears the click of a lock before the sound of retreating footsteps, all while staring at the white door with her mouth hung slightly open. Spencer stands there dumbfounded at what just happened, not knowing to either try to get back into that room or to just go into her own.

 _She's getting mad at me for something she did?!_ Spencer cocks her neck to the side as if she was talking to someone next to her. _Is she fucking for real?_

Spencer stands there for a few more seconds, just idly blinking before she silently turned around walked to her room, making sure to slam her door as well for Aria to hear.

…..

For the first time in a long time, the dorm stayed extremely quiet throughout the whole rest of the day. As the tension died down and nightfall was upon them, Spencer noticed that Aria has not left her room since their blowup. Even when Mr. and Mrs. Hastings came back with a tremendous amount of groceries, Aria didn't come out to greet them or help put everything away. For a while, Spencer held onto that anger, just severely ticked off by the whole situation. As she tried to do her class work, no matter how she much she used the powers that be to focus, her mind kept drifting over to Aria. She didn't like what happened but she didn't like the fight as well.

Sitting at the kitchen bar as she ate some ice cream, scrolling through her phone, Aria's room door unlocks and swings open. Spencer immediately turned her face in the direction of the hall, wanting to see Aria for the first time in hours. But just as Spencer goes to open her mouth, it closes itself in surprised to see that the smaller brunette was fully dressed.

" _Wha_ …where are you going?" Spencer asks as she watches Aria walk right past her. She made sure to keep her voice soft in contrast to the last way she spoke to her. Aria ignores her as she slips her feet into her flats. She reaches up for her keys on the hook above her before she went for the door.

Spencer pushes out of her chair, now bringing her tone from gentle to firm, "Aria, where are you going?"

" _Out_." Aria huffs lowly, not even looking at Spencer as she unlocks the front door with her keys and phone gripped tightly in her palms. Spencer quickly skips over towards Aria and slams her hand on the hard, wooded door, preventing the brunette to leave. Aria sighs out as she rolls her eyes at the sudden dramatics. Both girls stand at the front door, Spencer looking down at Aria while Aria keeps her eyes straight, not wanting to make any sort of contact since their last. Spencer lets out a small exhale as she hangs her head. Never in a million years would she want to see Aria in such manner and she didn't plan on this to last long, neither.

" _Aria_ …" she calls her name in almost a song like whisper, wanting her attention.

"I'm going to see Carson, _okay?_ " Aria snaps her neck upwards to stare at Spencer as she shoots out her reply, clenching her teeth bitterly after.

Spencer tilts her head to the side with her eyes now wider than before. A name that she would never expect to come out Aria's mouth let alone in a sentence that implied she was going to see him sent her in a mini tailspin. " _Carson?_ " Spencer narrows her eyes in total confusion.

" _Yes, Carson_." Aria quickly nods her head with confirmation, almost sarcastically as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I have to secure a date to the banquet tomorrow since you're obviously going with Mackenzie, your boyfriend, remember? Or am I just thinking about myself, again?" Aria's glares at Spencer with still pent up animosity as her jaw still clenched repeatedly. Still looking down, holding Aria's venomous stare, Spencer's face soften tremendously. Through two sentences, she was hit with two hard punches. Everything was snowballing so big that it started messing up their relationship and she hated herself for allowing it to get to this point. But anyone looking in can see that she was placed in a very peculiar situation that had two negative endings, no matter which road she picked. Aria angrily breathed out, still having her hand gripping the door handle as she dropped her sights.

"Can you get off the door? I wouldn't want Carson to think I didn't have the _common decency_ to show up on time."

With the third punched thrown at her. Spencer slowly backed off the door just as Aria asked, although it sounded more like a demand. Her voice dropped to a sadden plea as she shook her head, "Ar, look-"

Before Spencer had the opportunity to make her amends, Aria swung the door open, nearly catching Spencer in the face if her reflexes would have failed her a millisecond later. She hopelessly watches Aria march herself out of the dorm and slammed the door behind her, leaving Spencer by herself to deal with the heavy issues that lingered thickly in the air.

…..

The Thursday night mixed into the morning of Friday, the day of the long awaited, controversial banquet. Going in and out of the dorm to handle the daily runs of the day, Aria and Spencer still have not spoken a word to one another. Not during breakfast, not in texts, not even in class. All the silence between the two were driving Spencer mad and she knew she couldn't last any longer with Aria giving her the silent treatment. So, she waited. She waited until the day was done, when both her and Aria would be in the dorms together, hours before the ceremony.

….

With a push of her shoulders, Aria tiredly unlocks the door of her dorm, coming from her last class of the day. Putting her things away, she looks at her phone to see how much time she had until 7pm. Maybe somewhere within this time, she can sneak in a nap. For a moment, she found herself debating if she even wanted to go to the banquet at all. It was at the same time of her writer's club and if she was going to be just a background ornament at the ceremony, she might as well go do something she would actually want to do. However, already meeting up with Carson, she really couldn't back herself out of this arrangement. But, if she really wanted to, she can say screw everyone and not go to anything, just stay in and watch a movie before she falls asleep for the night. During all this self-thinking, Aria walks to her room door and opens it, just to find Spencer sitting patiently on her bed, waiting for her.

" _What the hell are you doing in my room?_ " Aria asks with stern, pointed eyes as she stands stiffly in her room's entry-way. Spencer rises to her feet, apologetically, as she began to make her case, however, Aria shuts it down before she even had the chance to utter a single syllable. "Get out. I don't feel like talking to you and I'm not going to have you _bully me_ into a conversation neither."

" _Aria_ , I just want to talk…" Spencer gradually approaches the cautious brunette with upturned, surrendering palms.

Aria pinches her eyebrows even tighter as she strains her neck in Spencer's direction, "Are you hard at hearing? _I said I don't want to talk to you_."

" _Please_ -"

" _No!_ Now _leave!_ " Aria barks, opening her door wider for Spencer's exit. Still inching towards her like a wary puppy, Spencer brings her feet to stand within close quarters of Aria before she reached out to grab her hand. Aria deflects the touch through agitated reflex with a slap, prompting Spencer to push through anyway, intent on grabbing Aria's hand through the now rapid assault that's been placed on her by Aria not wanting her to touch her. Spencer locks her grasp on both of Aria's wrist which makes Aria even madder, yanking her way out of Spencer's tight hold.

" _Ge_ … _get off me, Spencer!_ " Aria struggles as she pulls with all her might, only making Spencer's body bump into hers.

"Ar-Aria-Aria, stop, please!"

"GET OFF!"

"NO, LISTEN!" Spencer jerks one final tug to force Aria to stand face-to-face with her. She quickly exchanged holding Aria's wrist to clutching Aria's face with one swift motion to keep her attention. "Aria! Look at me!" she lightly shakes Aria who pushes her face the opposite direction to avoid Spencer's gaze. " _Look at me._ " Spencer demands in a softer voice, compelling Aria's eyes to match hers.

"I'm sorry. I am so, _so_ sorry about everything, okay? I don't want to fight, I don't want this to come between us." Spencer sincerely apologizes with a touch of begging to get Aria's attention, "What I said was uncalled for and I let my emotions overshadow how you felt and I'm sorry for that…..I love you." Spencer's eyes dart side to side to stare hard into both of Aria's round hazel's eyes; the dark ones darkened by fire now relaxed with the flames extinguished. Spencer rubs her thumbs softly against Aria's cheeks as she lowered her voice to a definite and safe whisper, " _I love you_."

" _You really hurt my feelings_." Aria's once strict voice shook with a wave of vulnerability and sadness as she stared back at Spencer with her eyes involuntarily beginning to pick up tears. Tears that she hated was staring to form.

"And I'm _so, so, sooo sorry_ about that. I really am _but_ …but, baby, you have to understand that I know my parents." Spencer offers the tiniest of smiles with her light speaking and reassuring voice, "I know when it's a good time to bring up something and when it's not. And when you were about to do it, it would have been a bad time. I didn't mean to blow up on you but, trust me, I will fix all of this: The lies, the fake relationship, everything." she nods her head in validation behind her words, "I will tell them…. _tonight_ …..when the time is right."

Aria and Spencer stare at each other deeply after Spencer's last words. The silence builds over them as they stand there in time with Aria's face in Spencer's hands and their eyes locked in a secret promise that only them two can hold.

"Do you forgive me?" Spencer mutters just above a whisper, continuing to rub Aria's warm cheeks. She sees the tears building in her eyes and was just waiting to catch them and wipe them away before they had a chance to fully roll down. Aria doesn't respond back to Spencer's question, still staring into her without a single muscle moved. She didn't want to cave in so quickly. Even though she wait for this moment for Spencer to beg for forgiveness just so she could tell her no, and make her really work for it, that imagination became a mere fantasy the moment she was faced with the actually reality of it. She can't stay mad at Spencer for too long. It's impossible and, frankly, draining.

" _Do you forgive me?_ " Spencer repeats again, still waiting for an answer. The anticipation and the close standing was killing her with the thoughts that Aria might actually say no and bring them back to square one. She really is sorry and, as of lately, the stress and extra worked up swing of emotions has caused her to get worked up quicker and more often than usual. She knew Aria's intentions were good but it couldn't have been at the worst time with the lack of Spencer's approval. However, she wants to work though this together but she has to make sure they're on the same page, especially tonight where she would really want Aria by her side. Granted they won't be side by side but she would like Aria to be there for this rewarding moment. She maintains the smaller brunette's watery gaze….waiting.

" _Yes_ …." Aria finally lets out in a huffed sigh. She drops her eyes down to the floor, embarrassed by her actions as well, knowing that it wasn't only Spencer who was in the wrong, "I'm sorry too. I…I shouldn't have done what I did."

"It's okay, it's okay." Spencer smiles an appreciative smile as props Aria's face up by her chin, leaning in for a small kiss. A kiss that happened to be their first kiss since their last on Wednesday, right before she left for her Pre-Party.

….

" _Ah,_ Spencer. I believe that I saw your family at that table on the far left, over there." a young woman associated with Spencer and a helping hand responsible for the ceremony points the dressed up brunette to a table at which she sees her father all suited up, talking to another middle aged man by their table.

"Thank you." Spencer nods her head with a slight smile, holding onto her clutch bag as she looks down and sways at the bottom of her dress to stop her from stepping on the ends and begin her travel to the other side of the hall. She wanted to go for something more casual and shorter for tonight, something to easily move in, but Aria, of course, insisted that she went all out in glamour. According to her, it's not every day that someone gets honored at a large event. Not just winning an award but actually honored. And because of that, Spencer was slapped on a dress that she had in her arsenal but actually had zero to no intention to wear. It was her two piece white and gold jeweled dress: a gold beaded bodice with long and tight white skirt, showing just a _tad_ amount of skin between the waistband and the end hem of the top. She dresses up the attire with matching gold bracelets, earrings and other like accessories.

" **You have to Beyoncé this!" Aria explains as she goes through the rest of Spencer's closet, seeing what else she had to offer before she made her final decision.**

"… **Except I'm** _ **not**_ **Beyoncé?" Spencer shakes her head with an arched brow as she sits at the edge of her bed, watching Aria become her whole personal stylist as she ate a granola bar, "I will** _ **never**_ **be Beyoncé. I look like a** _ **dead bug twitching on it's back**_ **compared to Beyoncé-"**

 **Aria turns around with her choice dress and hand, "** _ **Strip**_ **." she orders, pointing at Spencer mid-chew, "You're wearing this."**

"You two look lovely by the way." the girl quickly adds in before Spencer walked off, causing the brunette to turn her head around with another small, yet appreciative smile back at the compliment.

"Thank you. As do you too." Mackenzie responds back with a nods of his own as he kept his hand on Spencer's lower back, allowing her to lead the way to her parents. Getting past everyone's greetings and compliments, Spencer's white and gold tributes to Mackenzie's unbuttoned, dark grey three piece suit. Eyes fall on them parting through the idle crowd just as another female approaches them with a wide smile and phone in hand.

"Well, look at the hottest couple on campus just _blessing_ everyone with their presence."

" _Dakota_ …." Spencer sings out the girl's name, straining a forced smile as the blonde strolled herself in front of her and Ken, "Nice to see you…."

"Not as nice as it is to see _you._ " Dakota gleefully bounces before she sets her sights to her male counterpart, drifting her eyes upward due to his height, "Hi, Mackenzie." she coos his name with admiration in her words.

"Hey." Mackenzie greets the stranger back with a warm smile. He instantly does a police scan-like workup to see if he knows this particularly female from anywhere. Whether it's a party, hookup, classes, or someone he had a brief conversation with, through his grin, his brain was working quite hard, very quickly.

"So, I just wanted to _knooow_ if I could take a picture of you guys?" Dakota shakes her phone in her grasp with enthusiasm, "It'll go in the ceremony's own scrapbook/slideshow for the future production of."

"Don't you mean Instagram?" Spencer threw in a small snark within her pressed smile, knowing that they most likely be the center of more _"Spenzie"_ posts from the UPenn's 411 page.

"It wouldn't be a crime if this was shared to the masses online." Dakota smirked back, looking down at her phone to open her camera app. Whether Spencer liked it or not, their picture was going to be taken at some moment during this night.

Coming in a bit later after Spencer's arrival, Aria walks through the double doors with her date, Carson, handling right beside her. Sporting a rich, dark purple two piece suit with high contrast blue tie, Carson upholds his sophisticated, cultured appearance as Aria adds to his charm with her floor length black gown with purple stylish details. The purple bands on the formal dress beautifully framed the open bare back, and continue to cascade down the sides of the long trumpet skirt. Originally going for something more subtle, it was a literal last second change by request of Carson. He hoped that Aria could wear anything purple to compliment his suit. Being his date to his reception, (although she couldn't care less about him and was there for Spencer's support) Aria kindly obliged. The decision was so last second that not even Spencer knows about the change.

" **Going with Carson as a date, I had to convince him a whole bunch to share a table with you guys." Aria comments as she bypasses Spencer at the kitchen bar and walks into the kitchen itself, on path to the refrigerator to grab her drink she's been saving.**

" _ **Oh no.**_ **" Spencer dramatically glanced up from her laptop with a slow head raise and enlarged eyes, 'What did you promise him?"**

 **Aria shrugs as she pulls open the fridge door, skimming her eyes around the massive amount of food Spencer's parents brought back for them, "A well-behaved date? I don't know what else he expects. It's not like this is his invitation to try anything else. I strictly told him that we're just going as colleagues."**

" **And he went for it?"**

" **Apparently."**

Walking past Spencer and Mackenzie without them even noticing, Carson leads the both of them towards the Hastings' table that already held her mother, father, Melissa, and her husband. Aria takes a silent deep breath as they got closer and closer to the table. A part of her wanted to ask if they could wait until Spencer was seated to approach the table but it was already too late, the family had already laid eyes on them. Especially a pair of unfamiliar eyes that Aria knew belonged to the well-talked about Melissa Hastings. The older sister was beautiful, although she didn't look much like the mother like how Spencer took on, she upheld that prestigious Hatings' family class that you can notice from miles away. However, all it took was for her to stop talking to her husband mid-sentence to spot Aria, glancing at her up and down with just swift eye movements, to make the smaller brunette gulp down in anxiousness. She's remembers Spencer telling her stories about how Melissa was snarkier and underhandedly shadier then she was, which at that moment, Aria found hard to believe seeing that Spencer's comeback times were ridiculously quick and witty. But with that one glance, she took back all her doubt.

" _Carson Wyatt?_ " Veronica's mother called out in surprise to seeing Spencer's old classmate all grown up, resembling a young, handsome man. The mother's neck leaned back momentarily as she recognized the girl on his arm, not believing what she was initially seeing. " _Aria?_ "

"Hello, Mrs. Hastings." Aria shyly smiles at her as her heart started beatboxing in her chest from all the eyes at the table shifting to her holding onto Carson's arm.

" _Mrs. Hastings._ " Carson licks his lips before he flashes his award-winning smile to the older woman. His voice was low and seductive like as if he was flirting or getting ready to scam someone."Looking as young as I last remember. How old are you now? 26?"

Veronica waves Carson down with a flick of her hand as she chuckles at the young boy's attempt to already woo her over. Peter, however, steps to the brunet with his arm extended, ready for a handshake.

"Carson, it's nice to see you again." Carson pulls out his free right hand and gave Spencer's father a firm handshake as he looked directly into his eyes, "How are things with you today?"

As he started his conversation with the older man, Aria looked around to see if she could either spot Spencer or Mackenzie's faces somewhere within the large crowd of fancy-goers and nicely dressed people. But with every second that passes, her uncomfort rises to unforeseen levels. She knew that she was going to become nervous around her family but she counted on Spencer to be there to soothe her troubles away somehow. Little did she know, Spencer was coming up from the other side of the table where Carson blocked her view.

"Hey, sorry." Spencer apologizes as she placed her purse on the table in front of an empty seat. Veronica and Melissa exchange their looks from Carson to now her and Mackenzie as Aria leaned forward to see Spencer. "I got held up with everyone trying to take some…pic…tures…." Spencer meets eye contact with a dressed up, stunning Aria that nearly makes her lose her train of thought. A hidden smile on her face lightly made its way across Aria's face as she removed herself from Carson and walked over towards her and Mackenzie. The blond immediately compliments Aria's appearance with his eyes lingering a bit longer than it should have. Not only were Mackenzie's eyes glued, so where Spencer's.

However, a forced cough caused them snap out of their small, sudden daze.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friends, Spencer?" Melissa waits expectedly as her eyes bounce back between Mackenzie and Aria.

" _Uh-yeah-yes_." Spencer clears her throat with a head shake, almost as if she was trying to reject all the thoughts that have just infested her mind, " _Uhm_..this is Mackenzie Dillon and Aria Montgomery. Guys, this is my sister, Melissa."

"Hi." Aria nicely waves as Mackenzie nods his head at the older sister.

"Nice to meet you, Melissa."

"Hello." Melissa gives a small smile to Spencer's friends before she turn to her right to put her hand on her guest's chest, "This is my husband, Ian Thomas."

"Hey, how you doing?" Ian greets himself, going from the small Aria to tall Mackenzie where he left his eyes.

"Good. And yourself?" Mackenzie responds right back. In the midst of that, Spencer and Aria caught silent, secret eye contacts between each other, having yet another conversation with their eyes alone.

…..

The whole ballroom is seated with different speakers approaching the microphone as the award banquet went underway. At the Hastings' table, four people sit at each side with the college students on one half while the adults sat across at the other. Spencer sits in between Mackenzie on her left and Aria on her right as they have a plate of salad in front of them and a glass of light drink of their choice being they were under the age of 21. As everyone has their attention on the current speaker with Aria's eyes landing on Spencer every so often, her attention was altered when Carson nudged her.

"Look," he mouthed quietly as he motioned his eyes towards his lap. Aria followed to see that he was secretly holding a black flask. She glances back up with her eyes widen, not believing that Carson was planning on getting lit at a time like this.

"You want some?" Carson leans in to whisper into her ear.

"No." Aria hisses back subtly, "Why do you even have that?"

"To loosen up. _C'mon Aria_." Carson cocks his head slightly to the side with a small encouraging smile, "Relax and live a little. I can feel your tension all the way from over here and it's only getting worse as time goes on."

Aria stares at the brunet for a brief moment. Was her anxiety that noticeable? It is a special night for Spencer with her family there to support her yet she feels like an outsider, like she didn't belong there. And even though Spencer plans on telling everyone about their relationship at some point tonight, Aria couldn't help but feel restless. "…what is it?" she finally asked.

A half grin creeps onto Carson's face when he notices Aria giving it a second thought, "Whiskey."

" _Fine_ …" Aria rolls her eyes as she nudges Carson back, "Don't get caught-and don't put a lot." the brunette quickly adds as a warning.

"Yes, Ma'am." Carson nods affirmatively. Sitting at location where most eyes aren't on them, he waits until everyone, especially at the table, is directly looking at the speaker for him to grab Aria's glass of ice tea. However, Aria stops him abruptly before he can pour anything.

"Do yours first. I want to see you drink it."

Carson leans his head at her, eyes squinted in disbelief, "You think I'm going to _drug you_ , Aria?"

"Who knows what you plan to do." Aria indifferently responses as she nods her head at him, not diverting her safety precautions, " _Drink it_."

"Wow, I feel a bit offended by that mistrust but whatever you'd like, your majesty." Carson quietly places Aria's glass back on the table and reaches for his own. Taking another casual double check around him, he pours in a small amount of liquor into his drink before he turns to face Aria, looking directly into her hazel eyes as he takes a sip of his glass. Watching him drink the said alcohol, Aria then gives the silent go ahead before him to give her some as well.

 _I can handle this. I can handle some whiskey…_

…..

 _Good shit, how long this this banquet?_

Aria shifts around in her seat as she looks at what probably is the 10th speakers up on stage as they get ready to recognize yet another student. Aria didn't consider herself a lightweight but at this exact moment, she started feeling good with a few pours. She stares over at Spencer glancing down at her phone and smiles to herself. She looked so beautiful in her formal attire, her makeup, her everything that Aria couldn't help herself, she just needed to….

Spencer slightly trembles in surprise with her head bowed down but her eyes enlarged in near shock. She doesn't make any sudden movements or make it obvious that Aria was squeezing her thigh underneath the table. Spencer nonchalantly turns in Aria's direction to see that she had her focus on the overhead speaker.

 _God, Aria, please…_

Unexpectedly, a round of applause began to fill the room and Spencer quickly went with the crowd, clapping on time as she let out a deep breath. Aria, however, just merely nodded her head as she continued to caress her hand underneath the table, keeping things discreet where no wandering eyes can see. There was something enticing about this to Aria, about having the power to control someone with nobody else noticing. She turns her head back towards Spencer and notices that her attention was on her mother, listening to what the older woman was saying to her.

 _This should be fun._

Aria allows her fingers to gather Spencer the fabric of Spencer's dress, pulling it up in bunches so she'd be able to touch her skin instead. As Spencer attempts to pay attention to what Veronica was saying, she tried to stop Aria with a push of her hand without being too obvious. The smaller brunette squeezes her thighs harder in protest, refusing to be rejected at this moment. Carson momentarily leans in to Aria as she rises Spencer's dress in the process.

"I have the bottle sitting in the backseat so if you want more, I'm going to top the flask off." he whispers lightly into her ear.

"You're going to have to keep going back and forth to fill it up for the both of us considering the size of that." Aria responds back, keeping her voice low as she finally was able to hike up the length of Spencer's gown. Carson silently agrees with the brunette, letting his eyes roam in thought before he lit up with an idea.

"Can I see your purse?"

"Why?"

"I'll bring the whole thing back so there's no back and forth."

Aria hand rests motionless momentarily as she eyes Carson, quickly debating in her head if that was a good idea or not. Not only is were they still underage, she knew that they can get in a heap of trouble if they got caught drinking. Not only that but risk the chance of embarrassing Spencer in front of her family and other students. However, on the flip side, Aria believes that they could get away with it. With their table towards the back with no one really behind them, if they timed everything right, they could enjoy a small drink and control themselves.

"How big is the bottle?"

"Just a regular size, 750 milliliters." Carson levels his hands in the air, demonstrating the height of the glass, "About this big. It could fit."

Aria reaches down at her purse placed down at her feet. For precaution reasons, she removes her phone and wallet and places them on her lap before she handed the bag over to her date.

"Have fun trying to explain why you're holding a purse without a girl next to you." Aria quietly giggles as she watches him adjust himself to leave the table.

Carson smiles back at her with his signature sly grin, "Oh, I'll think of something." Excusing himself, the brunet fine-tunes his suit jacket and rises out of his chair, walking swiftly yet calmly with Aria's darkly colored purse in hand. Aria watches Carson stroll towards the double doors of the ballroom and disappear behind them before she went back to her business at hand. Aria reaches for the last bit of her drink as she casually glances at everyone at the table talking amongst themselves.

" _Aria_." Spencer suddenly turns her head to face the owner of the wandering hands with a low call.

"Yes, Spencer?" Aria answer back innocently, her smug smile non-existent but all the self-satisfaction resting within her hazel eyes. Spencer stares at her for a few long seconds, trying to understand the reasoning for Aria's unexpected game of touching while she sought not to revel in the contact on her thigh; her nails lightly graze across her warm skin, climbing higher and higher.

"What are you doing?" Spencer whispers almost weakly as she strained to uphold her composure.

Aria shakes her head with a shrug, "Nothing." she challenges Spencer silently, knowing what she's doing to her in secret. The fact that she could do nearly whatever she wanted and Spencer _had_ to not make any extra sounds or gestures to tip off her family and friends around her gave her a small rush for the night to come.

" _Spencer_."

"Y-ye-yes? Yes?" Spencer turns her head towards her sister almost too fast as she stuttered her words. She then clears her throat, shaking her head to recuperate herself, "Yes?"

Narrowing her eyes, Melissa scrunched her face with a pinch of her eyebrows at the random weirdness Spencer was portraying. She peeped her up and down suspiciously before she finally spoke.

….

"Penn has always took many bright and intelligent students and gave them the platform to shine and show the world what they are truly capable of." Dr. Addison stands before the seated crowd, making her speech to introduce the next honoree of the night, "American civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred earned her Bachelor of Arts in English at UPenn in the early 1960s. Her senior honors thesis on Armenian writers opened the door to her civil rights work. UPenn was Tory Burch's first choice of college when she applied. The billionaire fashion designer majored in art history, and she helped found the school's Kappa Alpha Theta chapter. Warby Parker co-CEOs Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal came up with the idea for their $500 million glasses company at a Penn bar. Donald Trump in 1968, started at Fordham University but transferred to Wharton after two years and become one of the biggest business entrepreneurs of all time. Although a _very controversial_ character in the run for president, one cannot deny the influence he has on industry of business. But maybe, that's where he should stay."

A small round of chuckles comes from everyone with the presidential election reference. No matter if one were for or against Trump, everyone could agree that his sudden want for office was a surprising turn of events.

"And out of the pool of famous graduates that went on to bigger and better things in life, I can guarantee any amount of money that our next honoree will be a part of this list as she takes the world by storm." Dr. Addison turns her sights onto the back table holding the full party, gaining soft smiles from Veronica and a nervous yet appreciative grin from Spencer as they listen to their family friend's speech, "Coming from two powerhouses for parents, Veronica and Peter Hastings, and a rising and prosperous sister, Melissa Hastings-Thomas - all three Upenn Alumni's - the family name behind Spencer has definitely created a rather difficult standard for her to reach and, to be honest, set her up for failure. But not only has she reached the standard, she owned it and kept powering though like a superhero with no fear. Spencer isn't Spencer Hastings, the youngest daughter of the Hastings family, Spencer is Spencer Hastings, the self-motivating, dedicated trail blazer that we're all going to hear the name of again in years' time. From being academically dominating while being devoted to several clubs, volunteering organizations, UPenn's very own Government and Politics Association, and a threat to any visiting school as she helps defend the name of the Woman's Lacrosse team, Spencer Hastings always surprises me as to how she has enough hours in the day to be such an involved person. This is just qualities that we will only see blossom over time." The older woman looks up from her written speech to the crowd with a proud smile, "It is my greatest pleasure to honor the University of Pennsylvania's promising star of excellence, _Ms. Spencer Jill Hastings_."

Clapping and cheers erupt within the ballroom as everyone watches Spencer rise out of her chair, surrounded by her family and friends standing to applaud her. Camera flashes were snapping along with several people apart of the media portion of the night holding up their phones/professional cameras to record this moment of gratitude. Even though Spencer has gone through events like these time after time again, she never loses the nerves that are associated with it. Turning to her left, she sees Aria clapping away like an ecstatic seal, beaming a smile as wide as she could with a sense of proudness. Spencer leans in to give the smaller brunette a brief hug lasting about two seconds before she pulled away and immediately turned to her right where she gave Mackenzie her attention. Aria's smile fades a bit from the quickness of the embrace lasting a lot shorter than she expected yet continued to clap nonetheless. After giving a hug also to her "date", Spencer grabs her speech paper from the table and walks towards the stage, not forgetting to at least smile and acknowledge her family on the other side of the table. The brunette anxiously pulls up the end of her white dress as she stepped up the stage stairs with Dr. Addison awaiting her at the podium with a huge smile and arms extended. Spencer gives her last hug to her before she set her papers down in front of her, adjusting the mic to be placed at her mouth level as she now stands in front of hundreds of people who came out for this extravagant banquet to honor the bright students of Philadelphia.

"Thank you very much, Dr. Addison, and thank you to those who believed I was worthy for such an opportunity." Spencer began her address as she briefly exchanges looks from her written speech to the people sitting in front of her, "With all my accomplishments said out loud, it makes me wonder, myself, how I am actually still breathing? Any sane person would have stopped with just one club or one sport but, being a Hastings, I think I passed the insane threshold way back in high school."

The crowd chuckles lightly at Spencer's small joke as Veronica and Peter looked onto their daughters proudly with a smile of their own.

"Matter of the truth is that my main secret is my support system. Not only am I encouraged to strive for greatness by my family, my friends level me down and give me the undying support that I need on a daily basis. Honestly, if it weren't for them, I don't believe I would have survived campus life by myself. Out of the close circle that I have found myself in, each person I've associated myself with have played a role in keeping me, _me._ " Taking in a quick breath, Spencer turns her eyes from the large crowd to one sole person who deserved the spotlight, "Aria Montgomery, my best friend. Partner in crime-or academics for any future employers in the room." she quickly adds, gaining another small laughter from everyone including Aria who gives her a heartwarming smile back, holding her hands grasped together at her chest as she listens on to Spencer's words for her.

"But as my best friend, she is my rock and I don't know what I'd do without her. Going from an annoying fellow student that I wished would disappear off the face of the Earth to becoming my roommate and my closet confidant, I would never have expected things to blossom between us the way things did. Through my sudden young age identity crises, I thank you for not only being there as a person…. _but also_ …" Spencer sucks in her bottom lip as she stares at Aria, whose hands went up under her chin now, pouting happily as if she was about to cry. In that same split second, Spencer eyes drift over to the rest of her family, awaiting her words with supportive smiles. The brunette silently cleared her throat as she looked back down at her speech paper.

"As a friend to lean on. I am forever grateful for you in my life and I cannot thank you enough." Aria's encouraging beam dims a few shades, now a forced smile as Spencer's family looks back at her. She nods her head, acknowledging their thankful looks before she looked back up at Spencer as her once colorful, butterflies-filled insides weaken along with the words Spencer reduced her to. She doesn't know why she feels so small unexpectedly, she's used to being seen as the roommate friend. But at this banquet with everyone proud to be associated with the stars of the night, showing them off with pride, Aria feels like she was robbed of her chances to do that along with everybody else. Nonetheless, she still kept her smile.

"I also want to thank her date, another honoree, Carson Wyatt, for always giving me the motivation to succeed whenever I feel like giving up." Spencer continues on, this time getting a surprised eyebrow raise from the man himself as he would never have thought Spencer would write _him_ into her speech, "I could never let a guy with serial killer like smile, over greased hair, leaving every location he's ever stepped foot in smelling like washed every inch of his body in Burberry, out-do me in absolutely anything." Genuine laughter abrupt from everyone as the people who know Carson turn to look at his reaction to that snub. All the brunet does in retaliation is lift his glass up to Spencer with a small and wink, taking the subtle insult with zero salt. He knew it was too good to be true.

"Another person that has joined me tonight, the department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics' honoree of the night, Mackenzie Dillion-" before Spencer had the chance to finish, woo's, howling, and other exclamations from other students were blurted out suddenly, causing not only Spencer to awkwardly laugh along with the chuckles from the audience but for Mackenzie to bow his head modestly with a slightly embarrassed smile as Veronica, Peter, Melissa, Ian, and Carson glance over at him giggling and laughing. Aria's smile goes from strained to visibly faked, trying to show happiness but can't find it in herself to do so. "He is someone I also want to thank for being there for me." Spencer pushes on as the crowd settles down, "You are…definitely someone that I'm forever thankful towards for being inside the highlight reel of my life and someone I could truly never forget."

Aria neck snaps almost at record speeds as she dumbfoundedly stares wide-eyed at Spencer, listening to her talk about Mackenzie in front of the whole entire crowd of 100+ people as if he was the best thing that's ever happened to her. Words that Spencer should have said to her, not some fucking spiel about being "a friend to lean on". How Spencer just bluntly not only degraded her in front of everyone who is anyone, cameras and all, she's boosts Mackenzie up, deliberately still going along with the idea that she's currently _dating him_. All of a sudden, Aria felt herself get hot and agitated inside. She turns her eyes to look at Mackenzie who stared back up at Spencer with a small smile. However, while everyone watched Spencer, Mackenzie's sixth sense kicked in and he slowly twists his head in Aria's direction, catching the immense heat radiating out of her buzzed glare. He gave her his best, subtle _"Don't kill me, I don't know_ " look before he tuned himself back into Spencer's speech. He didn't ask for this. He didn't want to come between her and Aria's relationship by being Spencer's fake boy toy but if his friend needed help because she wasn't ready to spill to her family, he was going to be there for her no matter what. He's just grateful he wasn't dating anyone else because this would have been really sticky. As the brunette continued on with her discourse, Aria reaches down into her purse, unscrewing the bottle of whiskey hidden inside and grabs her own glass with her other hand, shamelessly mixing the alcohol into her drink under the table away from anyone's eyes who might have been wandering.

She knew that this night was going to go two ways: either really good or really bad. What she didn't know was that Spencer was going to be the single-handed cause of the night turning horrific.

…

"It's one thing to not come out with the truth to your family, but to go in front of basically the whole city and praise Mackenzie as your boyfriend was on some other _SHIT_ , Spencer." Aria stomps into their dorm after a long silent walk to the college house from being dropped off. To prevent a public show from starting late at night for everyone to see, Aria kept a tight lip as she marched her way, only building in anger with every second passing by.

"Aria!" Spencer called out as she closed and locked their front door before turning back to the smaller brunette, " _I am backed into a wall!_ How was I not going to mention him?!" her shoulders raise up high as she defended herself from a fight she knew was seconds from exploding, "Not only was he my date but he's still my friend-"

Aria suddenly spun around and approached Spencer with a threatening finger and narrowed, slanted eyes, "Don't give me that victim, "I don't know what to do!" _bullshit_. If those people told you to slander me on that stage, would you have done it? You know, because you were _backed into a wall_?"

" _No!_ Why would I do that?!"

"Because that's what you did to my fucking character! Everything you said about Mackenzie, _I_ did that shit for _you!_ " Spencer stares into Aria's raging, aiming eyes as she begins to fly off the handle, getting louder and louder as she proves the reasoning behind her aggression. " _I'm_ the one always there! _I'm_ the one who tells you to be yourself and conquer the world! _I'm_ the one who motivates you to be _Spencer Hastings_ – I'm the one who does all of that!"

"I-"

Aria turns around and walks off a few steps still in her heels, clicking away as she strolls slowly looking at the floor, "The girl that you come back to after classes and meetings and events to _FUCK_ whenever you fucking feel like it gets railroaded and reduced to a roommate friend like usual. But _nooo_ ," Aria turns back to face Spencer with a forced, angered smile and arms extended wide, "this time in front of _everybody_ while you basically poured your heart out to fucking Mackenzie of all people!"

" _Aria_ , that speech for him was for _you!_ " Spencer whines back in a desperate attempt to explain herself as she walked up to Aria with her hands outstretched, pointing at her, "Everything I said was directed at you! He knew this! You should have known that when I started talking about the things that _we_ do together! He knows I've never done that shit with him."

Aria slumps the side of her body against a wall and she fumbled in an attempt to remove her heels. She tugs at the straps while she kept trying to maintain her unsteady balance, "I'm over here trying to make a good impression to your family, being a good secret roommate fuck that I am that they have no clue about." finally undoing one of them, she twirls the single black heel in her grasp, talking to the empty space in front of her, "Yes, Mrs. Hastings, Spencer might hold onto Mackenzie's arm in front of you but I can _guarantee_ you that he wasn't the one that ate her out before she left."

Spencer eyes Aria up and down several times with her narrowed vision directed at the smaller brunette's brash behavior. Watching Aria huff aloud as she became irritated with the fact that she was having a tough time removing her shoes with her shifting around awkwardly, Spencer cautiously steps towards her. "Are…. _are you drunk_?"

"Don't flip this on me." Aria spat back with her head bowed, drunkenly focused on her, "This has _nothing_ to do with me apparently since _I'm_ nothing. Ha, you know what? This…this is all _your_ fault."

Spencer's jaw separated and smacked the floor at such a rapid speed that she thought they were going to permanently lock in place with the look of the bombshell that she'd never think she'd hear, " _My fault?!_ What did you want me to do, Aria?! Did you want me to confess my love for you on stage with cameras pointed at me then run off and wrap you in my arms for a kiss?!" she flailed her arms as Aria carelessly took off her other heel and tossed it to the side with her feet touching the cold floor for the first time since tonight, "You wanted a fairytale, story-like ending, huh? Alright, let me just hit up the writer of this book, you know the one that's narrating our lives and tell them to rewrite that whole part to mimic a scene from the fucking Titanic. That way, Aria can be happily ever after. You already want me to come out to my family which I told you I would if you would just LET ME work the timing, now you want me to come out to the entire fucking university? A place I told you from day one I didn't want in my business? You act like I wanted this!"

"I'm always nothing, that's what my life has resulted to." Aria mumbles to herself as she tossed her purse onto the couch and trudged drowsily towards her room, "I'm no girl next door, I'm the girl that people hide from their _friends_ , _family_ , and the _public eye._ Well, you know what?" she quickly spun around to face Spencer who was trailing close behind. The sudden movement almost had Spencer bump into her but all the smaller brunette does is lift her finger once more in front of Spencer's face, "The shit stops _right now._ It was fun in the beginning but now it's draining. _It's draining me, Spencer._ Slowly like….like a… _parasite._ " Aria wobbles her way to her door and opened it as she continued to vent out all her inner-feelings and thoughts, "I went through this already! With my ex! And it was not fun at all! Having to hide and disassociate ourselves every time we stepped outside-"

" _He was fucking pedophile! Of course you had to hide!_ " Spencer lets out a frustrated fire back to cut Aria off. The aggression that spewed out from Spencer's mouth made Aria stop and turn around at the girl who seemed to finally snap, "I'm not your ex, Aria! This is harder for me than it is for you! You think that I'm not hurting inside every time I have to put you down? It's not my fault! My family expects me to be with someone like Mackenzie, he's the ideal person for me!"

Aria stares at Spencer is a bit of a shock that delivered an unexpected two-hitter punch. Her mouth opens to say something but fails to generate a sound as all she could do is look on to the brunette who stood in front of her basically panting. "…. _Are_ …." Aria nearly whispers out as she tilted her head subtly to the side, still blinking away the shock, "….Are you saying I'm not good enough for your family?"

" _No!_ " Spencer gasps out lightly as she stretched out her hands and gently cupped her face as she began to see tears well up into Aria's bottom eyelids.

"Just because I'm not wining prestigious awards? Because I'm a writer who would rather stay in and read books than go to all these fancy events with my name on plaques, I'm not good enough for you?"

" _Nononono_ , Aria, no! That's what I love about you." lowering her head down to meet Aria's eyes, Spencer immediately reassures her as she close the space in-between them. "You're taking your passion and making it work for you. You're not trying to shove yourself in these competitive fields to try to snag a job that'll make you burn out in your 30's. You are the most creative, inspirational person I've met and I wouldn't want you any other way."

Aria holds onto Spencer's wrist, now feeling a sense of desperation, "Then let's just tell your family-"

" _Aria…_ " Spencer sighs heavily with a roll of her eyes as she dropped her hands from the brunette's face.

" _Please!_ Tell them the exact words you just told me."

"Why do you not understand that I need _time_?" frustrated, Spencer runs both hands through her hair, gripping the roots as she begins walking towards her room, "I really don't understand how _you_ don't understand that I. Need. _TIME._ "

Aria hopelessly walks after her as she wipes her face to rid her potential tears, "You-"

"Oh my god, _please._ You're going to make me have an aneurism." Spencer huffs purposely out loud in annoyance. She starts taking off her dress, feeling like she's beginning to have labored breathing by how suddenly tight everything got. She felt like her mind was going 50 miles per hour with every word Aria uttered being cramped into her cranium that already felt full to begin with. "I already said what I have to say. I'm not doing this with you anymore. Just…drop it."

Aria throws her arms in the air before they smacked back down at her sides, " _So, that's it_?" she stared at Spencer as she changed into more comfortable clothing, "You don't want to handle the problem so you're just going to ignore it?"

"Aria…"

"I know you need time but when? When?"

"Aria."

"Why would you rather-"

" _JESUS FUCKING SHIT_!" Spencer slams her dresser draw closed simultaneously as she spun towards the doorway where Aria stood. Her sudden yell silenced Aria instantly with the whole dorm standing silent in the middle of the night as Spencer eyes burn into Aria's, "You really want this?! You really want everyone to know right now?!"

"I just want us to-"

" _Okay_ …" Spencer nods her head with a small sense of certainty as she pulled over a white t-shirt over her head, marching her way past her girlfriend and back to the living room. Aria watches on confused, not sure about what Spencer was about to do. The taller brunette reaches over from behind the couch and grabs Aria's purse. Unzipping it, she fishes for Aria's phone, takes it out, and unlocks her lock screen all in a few seconds.

Aria slowly approaches Spencer, eyeing questionably as she goes through her phone. "What are you doing?"

"Everyone should be home, right?" Spencer nods her head as she finishes pressing at the keypads on the contact screen. She turns to the side and throws her hand out towards Aria who isn't completely catching on, "Call her."

"What?"

"Call. Your. Mother. _Aria._ " she reiterates as she shook her phone at her, _"_ Call her right now. Tell her to bring your dad and Mike to the phone and tell them. _You're going to tell them._ Tell them that you are gay as _fuck_ and you've been in a relationship with your roommate for months now. You can also add in all the sexual things we do and how nasty their daughter has become just for some extra imagery."

Aria rolls her eyes at Spencer's extremes, "Give me my phone." she goes to grab her phone out of Spencer's grasp but Spencer quickly yanks her hand back with her eyes still locked onto Aria.

"No, tell them! Since, you want me to tell my parents so bad, you might as well start the train and be an example for me." Spencer shoves the phone directly into Aria as the persistence continues, "Call! Them!"

She doesn't move an inch, not even to grab her phone. All Aria does is stare back at Spencer through her light red stained eyes. And for a silent second, Spencer saw Aria's jaw flex as the smaller brunette clenched her teeth in hesitation.

" _Huh_." Spencer brings the phone into her chest as she crosses her arms, "Now there is something that doesn't make sense. You want me to tell _my_ parents, _my_ family. but you won't even do it to your own."

Interesting enough, Spencer was onto something. When the Hastings family finally made their debut, Aria was more than excited to meet and possibly 'bond' with them. However, the reality cloaked over her once she became a secret and had to watch Spencer pretend to be in a relationship with someone else. This made her so warped up in coming out that she completely forgot about telling her own family; almost an 'out of sight, out of mind' moment since she hasn't seen them since Christmas break. But having Spencer turn around and pull the same stunt that she's been doing to her, the realization actually hit. Plus, even if she did want to tell her parents, a spiteful call was definitely not the way to do it.

"Welp, too bad." Spencer grabs Aria's wrist and pulls her to the front of the couch, forcing her to sit down, "You're going to call them and tell them _right now_. You said you don't want to be 'nothing' so we're going to do something about that."

Without giving Aria a chance to breathe out a single letter from the alphabet, Spencer goes ahead and presses call, putting the phone on speaker as it begins to ring Aria's mother.

"Spencer, stop! _Stop!_ " Aria springs her body up from the couch and tussles a few seconds worth as she tried to stop the call from going through. Eventually, and speedily, the brunette snatches the phone from Spencer's hand and hangs up before her mother had the chance to answer.

"That's okay." Spencer replies back, now seemingly breathless. She fast paces it to her own phone -almost like a mission- laying on the kitchen bar counter where she left it the moment they came inside. "I memorized her number, I'll tell her myself. I mean, it's polite that I meet my girlfriend's family since she's met mines, right?" she opens her dial screen and begins tapping away at the numbers, "215…"

Aria dashes over to her as she hiked up the length of her gown so that she wouldn't trip, yelling out Spencer's name in an attempt to stop her once again from opening Pandora's Box. She now realized how serious Spencer was becoming and seeing such anger radiate out from her internally scared her. She's never seen this side of her before.

She's been seeing new sides of Spencer lately, all of a sudden.

Right as she approaches her in dire stressing, Spencer spins to face Aria before she finished dialing.

"DON'T YOU EVER TRY TO MAKE ME OUT AS A VILLAIN OR THE BAD GUY, AGAIN! _DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, ARIA?_ YOU'RE TIRED, WELL GUESS WHAT?! I'M FUCKING _EXHAUSTED_. YOU DON'T KNOW THE SHIT I'M GOING THROUGH DAY TO DAY AND INSTEAD OF HELPING ME, ALL YOU'RE DOING IS MAKING MY LIFE A FUCKING NIGHTMARE-"

Out of this pent up rage, Spencer hurls her phone at full speed at the farthest wall opposite of them, causing the iPhone screen to shatter on impact. The loud, definite crack stifles the entire dorm with Aria looking on in horror and Spencer breathing heavily, not realizing what she just did. Aria switches her sight back to the brunette in a mixture of disbelief and fright. As tears begin forming all over again, she chokes back on the words that were trying to leave her mouth -to say anything- but Spencer pushes past her, heading towards their front door; still inside her clouded mind.

"S-Sp-Spencer, where are you go-going?" she stutters out unintentionally as she watches Spencer prepare herself to leave.

" _I can't_ …." Spencer looks to the ground as she commenced to fidgeting anxiously, twisting and turning herself with her trying to get her thoughts in order, "I can't be here. I…I can't."

Aria hurries to her side, " _Nononono_ , I'm sorry-I'm sorry. Don't leave." she begged. However, when she pleaded, Spencer visibly ignored her as started slipping into a pair of shoes that was lined by the door. Aria saw the disregard for her and at that exact second, she became desperate, "Spencer, _please!_ "

"Aria, stop." Spencer voice dragged on, tiredly. She didn't have any more fight in her. Not right now.

"I'm so so sorry. I'm not mad. I didn't mean anything I said. It's not your fault-" the words tumble out of Aria's mouth faster than her tongue and brain can handle. Although, trying to speak as she felt herself getting winded from her now jarring panting and her heart pounding at an increasingly rapid pace, Spencer stands up straight from fixing her shoes and reaches for her set of keys hanging on the wall.

"I-I'll-I'll shut up for the _entire_ night!" Aria's voice elevates another notch as her hands shook with every letter that escaped from her mouth, "The whole day tomorrow if I have to! I won't bother you, y-you won't even know I'm here!"

Just this whole situation present made a past scene flash inside Spencer's mind.

Cold, snowy night. Nothing but the city lights reflecting off Spencer's vehicle and Aria asking her for attention. The night Spencer told Aria how she really felt. The night Aria showed her how she really felt.

 _How did they get from there…to here?_

"But you _are_ here." Spencer weakly mutters as looks over her shoulder, avoiding her eyes to glance at Aria with her hand rested on the door handle.

"But I won't say anything! _I promise_!" hands thrown up as a surrender, the smaller brunette's eyes widened larger than normal with her light black, mascara and eyeliner created tears already rolling down her face, "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. Okay? I'll do it, just don't leave….bad things happen when people leave places upset. So, just come," Aria slowly reached for Spencer's arm with caution as if she was trying to be as gentle as she can to prevent a bomb from going off, "Come to bed. I won't talk anymore."

The moment Aria made contact with Spencer, the soft, vulnerability was riled back up to aggression again with Spencer forcefully yanking her arm away from Aria, growling out a harsh "No," in the process.

" _PLEASE! Don't do this!_ " Aria strongly cries out. Now, her tears were fully distorting her vision as she ignores the pull back and wraps her arms tightly around Spencer's body, pressing her face deeply into her back, "I'm sorry! Don't leave me!"

With Aria's sudden force of body contact, Spencer stumbles forward a bit, almost bumping into the door. Unfortunately, doing the opposite of t's intention, all of this just annoys Spencer even more. She _needs_ to leave. As Aria squeezes with her all her might to stop Spencer from moving, she feels the taller brunette using her own strength to pull apart her arms.

"I have…" Spencer groans with Aria's resisting getting stronger and stronger, "to go. Get off of me."

"You're not leaving!"

"You're only making this worse, Aria!"

Aria plants her feet firmly into the floor like a solider and stands her ground as she tries to keep a tight lock on Spencer. This doesn't last for long, although, because through all the straining and grunting, Spencer manages to rip Aria's small arms off of her. Before Aria had the chance to recover and grab Spencer again, Spencer swings their door open, quickly strides out over to the other side and goes to close the door behind her, however, Aria lunges for the door handle to keep the door from actually shutting. The two girls fight on either side, tugging the large exit door to be closed and to be opened. Halfway through this struggle, Spencer realizes that she still had the upper hand and releases the door from her grasp, hurriedly dashing to the staircase right across from them. Aria swings the door open and runs out into the hallway, holding up the end of her dress as her bare feet smacks against the cold hallway floor in pursue of her. Spencer gets to the exit before Aria had the chance to catch up to her and bursts through the metal door with her shoulder, jogging down the dim-lighted staircase as the jiggling of her keys and panting of her breathing echoed and bounced off the noiseless walls. The loud slamming of the metal doors sounded once more as Aria watched Spencer run away from her.

" _Spencer!_ " Aria choked out her screech, not caring who could have heard or been around. She knew she couldn't reach her at this point with the bobbing of Spencer's head hastily declining down the steps until she was out of sight. Not even three seconds later, with another door opening and closing again, verifying that Spencer left, created a moment of surrealism for Aria. All of a sudden, she felt an uneasy, exhausting wave of terror wash over her whole being. There was a heavy, crushing weight sitting on her chest and she was unable to have not one successful breath in the round of hyperventilation she was now in.

 _She couldn't think._

 _She couldn't calm down._

 _She couldn't breathe._

 _She couldn't breathe._

Aria shakily staggers forward trying to catch her breath with her hand reaching forward, ultimately feeling the wall in front of her. With all exit doors closed and Aria by herself inside the desolated, suffocating, public stairwell, she slides her body down the wall as her special black gown picks up every dirt known to man in that specific area until she plops herself onto the equally dirty floor. Her entire body felt cold with her hairs standing on ends. Her cries are now coming out in loud, strangled gasps in her throat, fighting for a passage way out long with her need for air. Everything felt so dream-like, comparing the feeling to as if she was skydiving ten thousands feet in the air with the sudden realization that she had no parachute while she descended down rapidly into the earth. Her throat was incredibly dry and tight and any numb feeling that was once inside her were was melting and all that was left is the connection to the pain.

The pain that Spencer actually left.

… **3 chapters left of Different Gazes…**

 **Check out my bio on my page for your very own Different Gazes video that I promised. The illustration of where Sparia stands right now at this moment brought to a visual standpoint. If you did watch it, leave me your thoughts? I couldn't help but dong extra things here and there for a group of one of my favorite readers :)**

 **Hang on in there, baby. Just hang on.**


	29. Chapter 29: Back to the Beginning

CHAPTER #29: Back to the Beginning

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

A small knock sounds at the door but with the pressure of the hand, the dorm door opens slightly. Seems as if the door was never fully closed.

Alex gently pushes the door and goes to announce her entry but before she could say anything, she sees Aria sitting on the floor in front of the couch, her back towards her. Still in her dress from Spencer's ceremony.

"Aria?" Alex calls out in a light voice. She's not sure what she's walking into but the smaller brunette sat perfectly still. Not even flinching at the thought of someone walking into her dorm at 9 in the morning. She curiously squints her eyes and turns to close the door, making sure it's actually locked. With how anal Spencer is with locked doors and just common campus safety, Alex could just _feel_ how off things were upon stepping into their dorm. There was this incredibly heavy energy that expanded like a thick cloud that fell to the ground and she didn't know what make of it.

She carefully walks around the couch with her defenses up towards Aria. She didn't know why but her current situation reminded her of a horror movie where you find someone eerily quiet with no movements and when you turn them to face you, they are either dead or some kind of zombie.

"Aria, are you okay?"

Alex walks in front of Aria to see her staring into the distance with her makeup completely ruined. Although not a dead corpse, the sight of her friend still made goosebumps run through her arms. She instantly crouched down and put a hand on her shoulder with her eyes scanning over Aria's stiff body and empty gaze.

"Aria, what's going on? What happened?"

Aria's eyes stayed in the same position of staring without a single blink. This made Alex nervous because she's never seen anything like this before in real life and wasn't sure what exactly to do. The only way she knew that Aria was actually alive and not a dead body set in rigor mortis was because she could see the small rising and fall of her chest. Alex looks farther into the distance, deeper into the dorm for some kind of explanation.

"Spencer?!" she yells out to wake up the possibly sleeping brunette. She probably has no idea of Aria's current state. She should be here. She knows Aria more than anyone and would know what to do.

"Spence!"

" _She's gone_ ….." a barely audible croak sounds.

Alex switches her sights onto Aria immediately at the acknowledgement of her voice. It was hoarse and cracked as if she hasn't had water in days. It didn't even sound like her. It sounded deeper and more mature than Aria's usual tone.

"When is she coming back?" Alex asks.

Aria eyes drift gradually to the side before they connect with a pair of overly concerned ones already staring at her, patiently waiting for a response that seemed to take forever to come out. Aria blinks slowly with her eyelids drooped low.

"….. _she's coming back to leave me again_ …."

Alex couldn't be any more confused at what's going on with Aria's reply. Her hands reach up and cup her friend's face to really look at her. Her once bright hazel eyes that seemed to twinkle in the sunlight was now dull and matte-like swimming aimlessly in the red sea. It seeped in with the colors of her eye makeup that was ruined. With the blending palettes grey and brown to create her smoky eyes, the upper lid stayed somewhat intact while her lashes and mascara looked a fright. One eye had no fake lashes while the other had the lashes barely hanging on. Her under eye appeared to be irritated as if she was constantly rubbing them and smeared her eyeliner completely. There were streaks all down her face that rolled to her jaw along with one earring attached to her ear while the other one was missing.

 _What the hell happened last night?_

"Aria, how long have you been here like this?" Alex looks deep into her eyes enough to see tears beginning to form. After a few quiet seconds, Aria's chin began to tremble and before she could open her mouth to speak, she breathed in a strangled gasp with tears now flooding down her face. Alex pulled Aria into her as she now started to cry all over again.

"Okay, it's okay. Come on. I got you." Alex soothes Aria as best as she could as she strokes her hair. Although she has only known Aria for a semester, she feels as if they've been best friends for years and never has she ever seen her cry let alone cry this hard. Right then Alex decided that her Saturday was going to be spent in this dorm, taking care of her. There is no way she's capable of standing on her own feet at this time.

With a bit of resistance from Aria's side, Alex is able to bring her to stand after being on that floor for who knows how many hours. Aria's weak legs drag underneath her while she leans on her friend for support. She didn't feel like getting up nor walking; she just wanted to stay on the ground and do nothing. She had absolutely no ambition for anything today and it bewildered her. She's been through break ups before and they have stung but, although not official, the way her and Spencer separated was such a stab in the heart, she felt like a piece of her was ripped out.

"Come on, we have to get you out of this dress."

"Alex, no..." Aria groans out as they walk towards the bathroom. She pushes back slightly only for Alex to hold her firm grip to prevent her from going anywhere.

"Aria, yes. Trust me, when you're nice and clean in a clean bed, it'll help you more than you think. You can't stay in this dirty dress. _Look at it._ " she points to Aria's once beautiful black and purple train dress to something dusty and grey coated. "It looks like you turned yourself into a mop and picked up every piece of dirt out in the outside hallway."

Aria continues to slowly sling as she glanced down at herself. Alex was right. After a failed attempt of chasing after Spencer, Aria had a panic attack on the top of the staircase. The beginning stages of her empty aching started to kick in and she barely found enough strength to get back to her dorm. That is, until she heard a couple making out at the bottom of the stairs and didn't want to hear or be around anything remotely intimate. It made her want to throw up.

"You're going to take a shower and I'm...I'm going to do something." Alex tells Aria as they finally make it to the bathroom. Aria stands around idly as she feels her body being tugged in several directions. Alex already foresaw Aria sitting on the bathroom floor still in her dress, so she decided to move her a couple steps forward and help her take her tight dress off. If she hardly had any energy to stand on her own, Alex knew she would not have the energy to strip down and hop in the shower. However, she couldn't help her do everything so she was going to bring her as close as she can before she gave her some privacy.

Aria takes a glimpse downwards and sees the top of her dress bunched around her waist, exposing her dark colored bra. If she was in a different frame of mind, she would thank Alex for her help when she didn't have to do anything but leave her in her own self-pity but she could not find the words to even formulate the thought let alone verbalize it.

A few more tugs and pulls later, the dress falls to Aria's ankles, leaving her standing in her just her undergarments. Which, quite frankly, Alex was glad she wore because if she decided to go commando, it would have made this a tad bit awkward.

" _Now_..." Alex crouches down and gently grabs a hold of Aria's ankle, lifting it out of the dress. "I need you to get washed up. If you need to take a long hot shower, then go ahead. We're going to get through this, okay?"

…

Alex turns off the sink faucet and rips a nearby paper towel to dry her hands.

"I don't know what went on last night but I can tell you this is pretty much 'red alert, sound the alarm' cry for help kind of thing."

"I've tried to call Spencer but I keep getting her voicemail." Mackenzie's voice sighs in response on the other end of the call. A few minutes after she left Aria in the bathroom, she went towards the living room and examined the remains of what used to be Spencer's phone before she called for backup like a crime scene detective.

"That's because her phone is shattered in the living room with parts all over the place."

"What? What do you mean shattered?"

"Like sweep it up and toss it in the trash, shattered." Alex casually explains as she opens their fridge door. Her eyes widen as she's silently taken back by the fullness. Never has she ever seen their kitchen so packed with food.

"I'm…. _I'm so lost_!"

"Look, I normally don't fall for dramatics because there are so many people who like to overdramatize things for a pity party but….." Alex lowers her voice to a small hush as she takes a brief moment to listen for the shower running before she continues talking lightly. "I've never seen Aria like this before, Ken. She looks like one of those patients that are on the brink of death but you still have to get them up and walk them around the hospital just to get some exercise. And Spencer? She practically lives with that phone on her forehead like a politician on their 5th shot of expresso and it's destroyed like that? _And she's MIA?_ What the fuck happened last night?"

Aria stands under the hot water raining onto her hair and skin with her head bowed. She imagines parts of her melting down the same drain she stared at. Her insecurities. Her passive aggressiveness. Her ability to mess up anything that looks promising. When she reflects on what happened last night, every path leads to her. No matter what direction she takes, what answers she gives, they all end up at the same conclusion.

Aria.

...

Alex pulls out a drawer and grabs a spoon when she turns around to see her friend now freshly clothed out of the shower.

"Hey..." she smiles at her while she sets a bowl on the kitchen bar in front of the seat Aria takes. Aria looks down into the bowl and sees the steaming hot soup Alex has made. She didn't expect her to cook. She didn't even expect her to come over. _What time is it?_

"How are you feeling?"

"Can you call Mackenzie? See if he's seen Spencer or if she's with him?" Aria scratches her arm, keeping her eyes away from Alex.

"I did speak to Ken and he hasn't seen Spencer since-"

"I have to know where she went because she didn't come back last night."

"Well, I'm no-"

"There are very limited places she'd go because she pretty much hates everyone..." Aria cuts Alex off once more, seemingly to indulge in an out loud conversation with herself rather than actually conversing with her friend.

Alex turns back around and grabs herself a bowl out of their cabinet. "I know for sure she didn't come see me nor Mackenzie so those are two names you could cross out."

Aria continues to scratch as she stares off into the distance. Although her face appeared empty, her eyes moved in front of her as if her brain was a computer and she was processing information in front of her.

"This is so unlike her, though. I mean, with all the work she does and how much pressure she puts on herself, maybe sh-"

A push of a chair scraps against the floor, causing Alex to turn around and already see Aria heading towards the door.

"Uhh…. Aria, where are you going?"

Aria slips on a pair of scandals left by the entrance and snatches her key off the hanger, all before she swings open her door and heads out.

"Aria! _Shit!_ " Alex burns her fingers by accident when she misses the bowl while pouring her hot soup. She quickly sets the bowl on the counter and runs towards the door with her mouth cooling her throbbing index and middle finger.

...

 _Knock! Knock! Knock!_

A long moment passes before locks are heard untwisting and the door opens to a short, pale faced Aria whose hair was still damp from the shower on top of her black long sleeved pajama top with small black athletic shorts underneath.

"Hey, lovebird. What brings you down to my side of the swamp?" Vanessa smiles as she leans against her dorm's door frame. She notices Alex lingering in the background and gives her a nod of acknowledgement although she's never seen her before.

"Is Spencer in there with you, by any chance?" Aria plays with her fingers nervously awaiting Vanessa telling her yes. All she could see herself doing is running through the door to either the couch or Spencer's old room if it's not occupied and jumping on her, promises never to pressure her to do anything else while she riddles her with kisses.

"Uhmm no, actually." Vanessa furs her brows as she crosses her arms. "I haven't seen her in months. Shouldn't she be upstairs with you?"

And just like that, Aria's vision of making up was shattered.

"N-No...no, she uh...she left for a second and I was...I was kinda wondering where she went."

"Oh okay. Well, then yeah. She definitely isn't down here."

"Okay, thanks." Aria musters up a short-lived smile that immediately turned into a frown when she walks away before she even finishes her sentence. Vanessa watches Aria disappear from her door and glances up at Alex.

"Thanks." Alex gives an awkward smile and a wave before she walks after Aria. She only makes it down the hallway before Aria turns around, hand on her mouth as she starts processing again.

"Who was that?"

"Spencer's old roommate." Aria answers quietly, still looking past Alex, yet to make eye contact with her. "She doesn't have many friends here. Not friends she likes enough to stay over. Where would she go?"

"Ar, I think we should just-"

"She had this friend." Aria bows her head in thought now, not listening to Alex but instead jogging her own memory. "Uhmm...Uh...Andre? And...erson? Do you know where he would be?"

Alex sighs in defeated. "I have no idea who you are talking about."

"He was tall with blonde hair and they studied together!"

" _Aria_. Did you go to a banquet last night?"

"Uh yeah." Aria answers as if the question didn't require an answer that was anything less of obvious.

"Other than you, your date, and Ken, who was at the banquet last night?"

"Her family."

"Exactly." Alex steps into Aria, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Think about it. Don't you think she crashed with her parents? Just because they're probably still in town?"

Aria only keeps her eyes on Alex's for a few moments before she glanced down, subtly nodding her head. "...You might be right..."

"I know I am. Just because you have one fight, I doubt that you are broken forever. You guys live together for Pete's sake. You both were bound to fight over something." Alex jokily smiles as she puts both hands on Aria's shoulders and turns her around, walking her down the hall back to her dorm.

"Plus this is a very stressful time for all of us, especially Spencer. After stretching herself out like an elastic band, she finally hit her pressure point. And now? She has to recuperate, she has to do a reset so she won't kill herself. It's perfectly okay to get some air without your girlfriend or boyfriend in order for you to find calmness. Spencer isn't going to leave you, Aria." Alex leans over Aria's shoulder to look at her with reassurance. "Okay?"

...

After another two hours of staying with Aria and trying to soothe her out of her frantic mind, Alex leaves to handle errands but vowed to come back when she was done. However, when she left, Aria locked the door shut with no intention of reopening it. She needed to be alone. Alone to stand motionless in her living room, staring at the broken phone on the floor. The only way of contact, shattered and disconnected.

A sudden, sharp inhale rocks Aria's small frame as she feels herself about to break down again. Although what Alex said is most likely right, she can help but to feel ripped apart inside by everything. Alex didn't see it. Alex didn't see _her_. Spencer pushed her off and ran. Ran out the dorm, and down the hallway. When she ran after her, Spencer picked up speed and disappeared.

That was more than a fight. It felt like disgust. Loathing. Felt like a desperate attempt to get away from something that she could no longer stand.

As the time passes, Aria would sit on the couch, waiting by the door like a faithful puppy waiting for their best friend, their owner. The love of their life. But one thing she learned as she painfully sat in the same spot for three hours in silence? She has never realized how long 24 hours were until she was avidly waiting for something. She was just hopping at any second now, Spencer would open the door and walk in. But for as long as she waited, that moment never came.

She's left her phone on, made sure it was fully charged with the ringer on high just in case Spencer called her from another number. She kept the blinds open so she had full visual of the courtyard in front of her dorm in case she sees Spencer walking by. She's took the pre-baked cookies the Hastings' brought and cooked them, leaving it on a plate in the kitchen so when Spencer walked in, she'd be able to apologize with baked goods in her hands. She did everything as she waited for a door that never opened. A girlfriend that never came back.

8am turned into noon.

Noon turned into 3pm.

3pm turned into 6pm.

The concept of time disappeared as the dorm stays as noiseless as it did at 2 in the morning when she was left on the living room floor in her dirty dress.

It's just too damn quiet.

…...

Aria lays in Spencer's bed as she flipped through the pages of the magazine in her hands, ever so slowly. The magazine of them. The magazine of her. Finding out in a more abrupt way than expected, Aria has been taking the photos she's snapped on her camera and developed them, blowing them up into full-page sizes. This idea hit her in the middle of her workshop club and she wanted it to be a secret, hidden away from Spencer until it was absolutely perfect in every way. Her fingers softly glide across the fine pages as she gazed at a picture of Spencer on the couch with her laptop on her lap as she absentmindedly chewed on her pen, watching one of her TV shows. Sometimes she loved to just sit there and watch Spencer, almost like observing this mystical creature in its habitat. The concentration in her face and the slowness of her breathing, Aria remembered that moment well. And as she flips through the pages, each picture came with a story that she could just hear playing in her head.

 _ **Snap!**_

" **Aria, are you serious right now?" Staring at her in the mirror, Spencer mumbles out as she stops brushing her teeth as soon as the camera flash went off.**

 **Aria brings the camera down from her eye and looks at the picture inside her gallery. "It's called a candid shot. It's supposed to be natural when you're not expecting it therefore no posing."**

" _ **But while I'm brushing my teeth?!**_ **" Spencer complains, spitting a wad into the sink water before she begins scrubbing again.**

" **Why not? It's candid."**

 _ **Snap!**_

" **Aria!" Spencer spins and lunges for her as Aria moved out of her grasp with just a second's reflex.**

" **You're not supposed to look at the camera!" Aria shrieks with a laughter as she moves her camera in different directions just so Spencer couldn't grab it.**

" **I'm going to break that camera, that's what I'm going to do! Delete it!"**

 _ **Snap!**_

Aria chuckles to herself as she gazes at the picture of Spencer with her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth, hand extended at the camera to cover the lens. That was a fun and relaxed day as she recalls it. It was the weekend – no major assignments to work on, no clubs or societies that needed their presence, just a slow and relaxed day. Aria frowns a bit as she stares at Spencer's face. Aria always titled herself as a hopeless romantic, and with that, she felt a lot. Her heart beats right on top of her skin, vulnerable and exposed for everyone to see. She knows that Spencer won't be gone forever but the knowledge of her disappearance currently made her hurt more than she ever anticipated. They might have not even been together that long but living with each other, seeing each other's face nearly 24/7, it microwaved everything. At least for Aria anyways. She wonders if Spencer felt the same…

"Fuck…." Aria murmurs to herself, "Fuckfuckfuckfuck! Shit!" she closes the magazine, tossing it to the side. She curses herself for how aggressive she was – for how blind.

 _Why couldn't I just drop the issue the first time? Why did I keep pushing and pushing and pushing?! What was even the gain from it? Just so we can hold-hands in public? Was that worth all of this!_

Both hands fly on Aria's face, covering the shame she is sure she was wearing before she raised them to settle into her hair. She sits silently to herself, her eyes trained on the white wall in front of her before she hopped off the bed and darted across to her room. She unplugs her laptop from its charger on top of her desk and leaps onto her mattress as she opens the computer. Speeding away to type in the password to unlock it, she hurriedly clicks Google chrome. If there is one thing she knew about Spencer, she lives, breathes, and sleeps with her phone in her hand. Why? She has to be in the know at all times. If someone calls, texts, emails, or messages her, she has to be able to have access to it at that exact moment. Never has she ever been not connected, especially when she's committed to so many things. Her phone might be broken from a fight of rage but if she has learned anything, she knows Spencer is using some way to check in on her notifications.

Aria speeds over to her Penn WebLogin.

"AMontgomery…55…." Aria mumbles her university email address, her fingers flying over the keyboard letters to sign in. Once given access to her account, she passes over her current unread emails, making sure she's not missing anything important like a deadline, financial aid notice, or anything that can derail her attention. She clicks the compose button and scrolls through her established contacts to find Spencer's email.

Everything slows down.

The cursor blinks on the empty message body and Aria ponders to herself. She thought of the idea of how to potentially message Spencer but didn't think about what to say. What could she say? There were a plethora of words flowing through her head

" _I'm sorry…"_

" _Please come back…"_

" _This was all my fault…"_

" _I miss you…"_

" _Are you safe? Are you okay?"_

" _Call me, please."_

With every meaningful line she comes up with, she backspaces until no black letters were imprinted. There is a possibility Spencer might see this message and she had to make sure that she gets this right the first time. She only has one rock to skip across the water and she needs this to shoot far and not sink.

" _I hope wherever you are that you're safe. My behavior yesterday was completely out of line and I'm horrified at what came out of it. I know you need your space - and I completely encourage it - but can you please call me? Just so I know you're okay? It's really quiet without you here and I-"_

Aria bites her lip as the tips of her fingers hover above the keyboard.

" _I miss you. I miss the sound of your voice and didn't realize how much I appreciated it until it was gone. I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset with me but I wish you could be upset here within these walls where I know you're alright. You can lock the doors, not come out unless I'm inside my room, and completely avoid me but I would rather get the silent treatment with your presence still around than for you to be out there somewhere with no form of connection. I'm not sure if you're going to get this message but if you do….please call me…. I love you."_

Aria exhales harshly as she leans back, silently reading over her email to make sure it's exactly what she wants to say. Her eyes scan the screen relentlessly before she goes up to the subject title, thinking of what to put there as well.

"Please read me."

Aria holds her breath, proofreading it one last time and checking the address to verify she was in fact sending it to Spencer and nobody else by mistake before she pressed send.

Now…she waits…

…

Aria's head gradually bows off to the side before she's jerked awake, not even realizing that she nodded off. She laid on her bed with her laptop on her stomach, watching some YouTube videos to pass the time as she waited by her inbox for a message she desperately wanted to come. She wiped at the corner of her mouth and adjusted herself to sit up right when she glances over to her email tab window. To her surprise, she had one unread message.

Aria's heart thumps firmly against her chest as she snaps into attention. Her fingers quickly swipe at the mouse pad to open her inbox when she sees a bolded subject title from the unread message.

 _Dear Aria Montgomery,_

 _This is a friendly reminder for you to check your account statement online! Checking your account regularly can help you manage your money more effectively!_

Aria rolls her eyes shut with a groan. She keeps them closed for a few moments before she opened them again and peeked over at the time

 _9:29pm_

She's been sleeping for roughly three hours and within those three hours, Spencer didn't respond back. As a person who can go from calm to anxious in a record-breaking 0.12 seconds, her restless meter kicked all the way into high gear. Did she actually send the message or is it sitting in drafts when she thought it sent? Was it to the right email? Did she send it to someone else?

She clicks over to see her sent mail and, indeed, she sent her heartfelt apology to Spencer's email. The same email she lives and breathes with.

Aria throws her hands onto her face, pulling the skin down she got to her mouth where she started biting on her nail. She has no idea where she is, she can't call her, and she can't message her. She felt like she was in total isolation with nowhere to breathe. A part of her is almost desperate enough to try and figure out Spencer's parents' number – just to double check if she's safe there with them. However, what if Spencer isn't there and has decided to go over to someone else's place and now she has her parents worried about her whereabouts? Spencer's frustration would grow even more with Aria because of her latest track record and cause her to end things between them once and for all. No matter what her heart tells her to do, all she does is lay back in bed and wait. Wait for something.

Wait for anything.

…

 **Aria walks inside the freshly-roasted scented Starbucks that has a few people lingering here and there. She stands by the front counter as she looks at the menu to see what she'll have. After battling what to order, she casually glances at another customer, who looks disheveled and tired, waiting for an order in their pajamas. After a moment of looking at the waiting customer, she realizes, once again, who she ran into.**

 **Spencer feels eyes on her as she turns her head in the direction of Aria.**

 **"You've got to be kidding me," she mumbles under her breath as she hangs her head. Aria takes a step towards Spencer. "Please don't." Spencer tiredly protests, "If you've came here to make my night even more of a hell, you've already won."**

 **"Look, Spencer, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For everything." Aria apologizes as she steps closer, "I just want to start over. No games, no fighting, just a restart."**

 **Spencer suspiciously eyes the smaller brunette, not knowing if she should trust her or not. "How do you know my name?"**

 **"I came by your dorm earlier today. I got your roommate who told me. I wanted to apologize then but you were already gone."**

 **Spencer finally caves in as she sighs, "Ok. We can restart. What's your name?"**

 **"Aria. Aria Montgomery."**

 **"I'm Spencer Hastings." Spencer responds.**

 _7:45am_

Aria looks at her phone screen before she cupped her warm drink in her hands, glancing out the window to the lightly dimmed streets that barely had a sunrise. She was the only person sitting at a table while the workers started up the machines for the day. Some of the employees even wondered themselves – what is she during here at seven in the morning…..on a Sunday? If asked, Aria would respond with a simple answer.

Waiting on her girlfriend.

All night she waited on Spencer's reply to her, whether it came in a form of an email, text, or even phone call. But no matter how patiently she waited, nothing came. Now, she was at the point of desperation. She decided to really channel Spencer if she wanted to get a sense of where she was or how she could find her. What is one thing Spencer does every morning without fail?

Drink coffee.

She is one of those modified human beings that require coffee just to open their eyes and Aria knew that she relied on their coffee maker to get her though the mornings. Without Spencer being at the dorm, she has to get it somewhere else. This caused Aria to go to the spot where they decided to drop their act of pettiness and get to know each other. She will never forget how Spencer looked when she locked eyes on her – like hell. But it was humorous to her; the pajamas, tired gaze that said _I will kill you if you try to talk to be before I swallow this sip._

Maybe she'll run into her like that again? At least that's what she wishes for as she sat there alone at the Starbucks that just opened 15 minutes ago.

 **"Yes, I have emailed you the said forms through email earlier this morning." Spencer holds her phone between her right ear and shoulder as she fills her black and white striped traveler's mug with the freshly brewed coffee, Aria besides her filling her purple thermal with the tea she made.**

 **"Yes, the only thing I need is the email authorization from you that all the information is correct and up to date so that I could turn in the application before the deadline." Spencer lowers the coffee pot back into the maker, turns around to the kitchen bar and begins putting her folders and notebooks into her bag as Aria seals the cap on her lid, readjusting her purse on her shoulders.**

 **"As long as you scan the paperwork with your signature at the bottom, you can forward the email back to them. They'll accept it that way instead of sending it via postal service." Aria reaches over Spencer to reach for the buttered croissant placed by her bag, trying to not make a lot of noise removing the cover. Opening the package, Aria quickly grabs the bread and rips a piece off and shoves it in Spencer's mouth knowing with her scattered brain, she'll forget to eat before she leaves.**

 **"** _ **Mhmm**_ **." Spencer quickly chews on the croissant, "Whenever you have the time, there is no rush."**

 **Aria places the lid back as Spencer swings her bag over her shoulder. She bends down and gives a kiss to Aria goodbye before she grabs her coffee mug.**

 **"Bye," She mouths to the brunette as she makes her way to the door.**

 **"Bye," Aria whispers back with a small smile.**

 **Spencer unlocks the front door and transfers her phone from her right shoulder to her right hand, giving the last wave to Aria before she closes the door behind her.**

 **Aria turns around to grab her tea mug when she reaches for a black and white mug instead of a purple one. Aria sighs to herself as she stands in the kitchen, counting down softly to herself.**

 **"7….6….5….4….3….2…."**

 **Spencer emerges from the other side of the door, holding the purple tea mug in her hand. Before she could say anything, she sees Aria standing in the kitchen, holding Spencer's correct mug in the air. Spencer sighs out a relief as she rushes towards the smaller brunette and exchange the cups.**

 **"Thanks,'' she whispers as she gives Aria another kiss on her cheek. Aria amusedly nods her head before Spencer spins around and rushes out the door.**

 _10:28am_

After a look at the time and the cafe buzzing around her, Aria realized how foolish she probably looked. She didn't even process what she was doing until that moment. She woke up at six in the morning, just to sit at Starbucks from the moment they opened. Now, three hours later, she is still sitting there with no kind of payoff.

She glances around to see people socializing nearby her.

 _This is crazy…._

Aria faces forward at her computer screen that she had before her, working on an assignment with her email opened as a popup window just in case.

 _I'm crazy. This is crazy._

In a hesitant motion, Aria closes her laptop and slides it into her bag. Alex was right. People need space. Spencer has to reset and find calmness. A weekend without Spencer won't kill her. As much as she dislikes it and as much as the ending of their Friday night burns her, people need their space. You have to give it time.

…..

With classes resuming back into session the following Monday morning, Aria pushes through the door of her art class to be, yet again, the first person inside. The professor wasn't even present as he unlocked the door and left to handle things before class began. Aria takes her usual seat at her group's table and makes herself comfortable for the first lecture of the day. This morning, she made a point to make herself look presentable. She knew that Spencer would show. She wouldn't ruin her perfect attendance over a fight they had just to avoid her.

Ten to fifteen minutes later, the class starts filling up with other students with the professor making small talk to the small crowd. It wasn't long before her table was joined by Mackenzie and Alex. And when they did, it was an instant game of 21 questions.

"Okay, what exactly happened after the banquet because this whole thing is confusing as hell to me." Mackenzie moves in closer to Aria as he takes his seat with a hushed voice. Bringing to light the important question, Aria guiltily sighs, her eyes falling down to her textbook.

"One moment we're at the banquet and things were fine and now I'm hearing that a phone was smashed and Spence is now MIA."

"Were things _really_ fine at the banquet, though?" Alex interjects, making Mackenzie look back at her. "You said at some part during, Aria glared at you like she wanted to snap your neck."

Mackenzie goes to comment on that small occurrence when Aria finally speaks up.

"I was drinking…" she admits for the first time, now ashamed. "Carson brought some whiskey and I drank it only to ease my anxious nerves. But instead, it just heightened my bitter feelings to the point we ended up fighting and that's when Spencer told me that I was making her life miserable, basically. That's about it."

Hearing all this for the first time, Alex's eyebrows raise as Mackenzie shakes his head, rubbing his face.

"I should have never gotten involved. This blew up bigger than we anticipated."

"No, it's not your fault _. It's mine_. I apparently don't understand the concept of boundaries."

"Speaking of…" Alex nudges Mackenzie under the table and nods her head towards the direction of the door. Aria follows her gaze when her breath hitched slightly at the sight of Spencer walking through the doors.

She felt a mixture of emotions - from being relived to excited to anxious, however, Spencer's appearance definitely added concerned to that list. Everything on her was baggy. Baggy sweater, baggy sweats, hair in a ponytail, the ultimate lazy look. Most lazy looks are still "put together" in a way but this look was as if she put little to zero effort in getting dressed this morning. Oddest thing about it was that she walked in with shades. Even though all her clothes are at their dorm, where did she get these clothes from? Doesn't she have clothes at home? Isn't that where she went?

Spencer drops a single notebook and a pen on the desktop, not even acknowledging the people at her table, takes a sip of her water bottle and raises her sunglasses to the top of her head as she turns her body to face the front of the class. Aria scoots her chair closer to the back of Spencer with a trying, soft smile.

" _Hey, baby_." she tenderly greets her girlfriend, gently touching her elbow with affection and a small rub. She waits patiently for a response back, whether it was a head nod, tiny "hi" back, or even a hand wave, something to recognize her yet, nothing comes. Spencer is as still as a rock. Almost as if Aria was a ghost and Spencer didn't hear her.

Maybe she was too quiet.

"I've missed you." Aria tries again, this time a little bit louder, just enough for Spencer's ears can catch. Her hands caresses the small of Spencer's back as she inches in closer.

The silence from Spencer speaks louder than the chatter in the room. After being away for the entire weekend, she was still continuing her silent treatment.

"Spencer, would you look at me, please?" Aria now sounded desperate with the blatant disregard for her presence. She opened her mouth to speak again, to apologize, to ask for forgiveness, to get her attention, when Dr. Hasleberger clears his throat to begin his class. As he talks, all Aria could so is slowly remove herself from Spencer in shame. With the time they spent apart, Spencer still had a problem with her.

….

The dismissal of class came after what felt like slow, agonizing hours with Spencer moving pretty swift to get to her next class. Aria rushes, throwing her things whichever in her bag when she quick steps after Spencer in order to finally get her attention.

"Spencer." she calls after her in the hallway that was hastily emptied with students trying to get hell out of there. After her not responding nor slowing down, Aria jogs up to her to cut her off.

"Spencer! Please, give me a chance to amend this!"

With no way to escape her now, Spencer stands face to face with Aria who was basically panting now. She lets out a deep sigh and Aria is nearly taken back by her appearance up close. Her mouth sagged, posture was slugged, as her eyes were blocked by sunglasses again. However, with the limited time she had, she decided to skip her concerns and go straight to issue at hand.

"What happened Saturday was completely out of line from my behalf. I have no jurisdiction over you and what you should do when it comes to your family. That's where I messed up – and I _know_ I messed up. I recognize it this. Now, I'm not asking for you to forgive me, although I would be grateful if you did, but….can you _please_ come back?" Aria exhales as she spoke hurriedly in just one breath. Her head falls to the side as she stared at Spencer, affectionately.

"I've missed you like crazy."

"Right now is really not the time." Spencer croaked out with mutter as she looked out the door behind Aria. "I have a class to get to-"

"And I'm not trying to hold you up-"

"But here you are doing just that." Spencer retorts coldly.

Aria takes a second to look at Spencer. _Really look at her._

"Why are you wearing sunglasses indoors?"

"I see we didn't cease the continuation of making me explain myself at your demand." Spencer lightly shook her head with a roll of her eyes, despite Aria being able to see it. Aria goes to rebuttal that inaccurate statement when Spencer speaks again.

"Anyways, I have more important things to focus on right now so-" and at that moment, she walks past Aria as if she didn't even know her and Aria felt defeated. Didn't even have the energy to protest back or defend herself. She simply turns around and watches Spencer walk down the hallway and out the exit doors, leaving her by herself in the complete silence.

….

"I fucking hate this so much." Aria sniffles, wiping her eyes. But no matter how much she tried to clear them away, the tears kept coming. The hurt didn't leave.

"The way she talked to me was like a reset back to when we first met with her being incredibly condescending. Except this time, this isn't some kind of back and forth game anymore. _I have feelings_ and she just….I fucked this all up."

She began to lightly cry with her head bowed shamefully just as Mackenzie reaches for Aria's hands, intertwining them together and pulls her in-between his legs as he sat watching her on her couch. He tries to give her some kind of support in her trying time of vulnerability, not liking the tension between his friends.

"I don't know what to do."

"Sometimes there is nothing you _can_ do. You have to let her figure out things on her own."

"Okay but what if she _figures out_ that she doesn't want to be with me anymore? What do I do then?"

"She'll come back to you soon, I prom-"

The front door unlocks and pushes open when both their sights jolt on Spencer coming in from the other side, now briefly stopped.

"Spencer." Aria gasps, pulling away from Mackenzie immediately. She quickly wipes her eyes again as Mackenzie raises to his feet, surprised at her sudden appearance as well.

"Hey, Spence."

Spencer pulls her key out of the door, closing it behind her, as she then sets out to walk past them to her room. Aria gives Mackenzie a knowing look, whispering that she'll see him later before they part ways with him leaving her dorm and Aria moving towards Spencer's room. Lightly opening her door, she sees Spencer placing her sports bag on top of her bed, throwing clothes inside of it. This instantly twists Aria's stomach upon the sight because for a split moment, she thought she would walk into Spencer settling back in not packing up.

"Wh…What's going on? Why are you packing?"

Spencer strolls towards her closet where she opened up the doors and took a moment to take inventory of what she had. It wasn't long before she started removing articles off their hangers, folded them, and placed it inside her bag.

"Spencer." Aria tries for her attention once more. When she realized she was actively being ignored, she decided it was now time to put her foot down.

" _Spencer._ Spencer, answer me!"

"I need my things if I want to pass my classes." Spencer finally responds to Aria growing anxious but in a non-caring tone of voice as she continues on.

"There is a reason your things are here. Why are you moving them?"

 _Silence._

"Are you _this_ mad at me? You cannot be acting out _this much_ because of last night. No way. There is something else that you're not telling me."

 _Silence._

" _Talk to me, dammit!_ " Aria blows over, stomping right behind Spencer with her fist bawled at her side, nearly shaking. With a single zip, fitting just enough, Spencer throws the strap of the bag over her shoulder and goes to get a few more parting items.

"Cut the dramatics, Aria." she says, grabbing her laptop. "You're just wasting your energy."

"I want to know what has you _this_ mad! Why are you leaving! Where are you going! Why are you acting like this!" no matter how much Aria urged to understand their current situation, the only thing Spencer was doing at this point was grabbing her purse and heading out her room door with no emotion on her face other than annoyance.

"I was wrong about everything, please!" Aria followed after her, now on the verge of tears again. " _Spencer_! _I love you_! And-and-and if you walk out that door, if you leave, you're telling me that you don't care. That you don't love me anymore. That everything we worked for was for nothing."

Spencer stops completely, her back facing Aria as she looked right at their front door.

"Don't walk out on me again. I can't handle that. Not for the second time. I need you-" the words catch themselves in Aria's throat with a hitch, a single tear falling down her face as she slowly approached Spencer with a hand extended, wanting to touch her.

" _I need you here_."

Aria places her palm gently on Spencer's waist with the intention of twisting her around so they can look at each other, however, Spencer turns her head, looking over her shoulder at the floor.

"…Then why don't you call _Mackenzie_ to keep you company."

Aria's hand leaves Spencer's body as she walked off with a harsh step away from her girlfriend to the door. Aria stood there in dumbfounded shock while Spencer leaves their dorm once again. There is nothing but stillness surrounded by quietness as she stands almost wide-eyed, staring at the door Spencer just left through. Tears, now freely, roll from her unblinked eyes before, in a snap, Aria grabs the first thing beside her – one of her assigned folders for class that rested on the kitchen bar – and chucks it like a Frisbee with a guttural yell that rumbled deep within her trachea. Tens of papers fly out all over the living room with Aria's anger starting to rise to frustrated levels.

 **I cannot believe it's been a whole year. An entire year. Are you guys still alive? I'll be honest, the main reason why Different Gazes hasn't been touched in so long was because I lost motivation for it. Worst timing with 3 chapters left, if you asked me. I've mentioned this before in prior author notes but I felt as if I was starting to sound like I was begging. Maybe I kinda was.**

 **I think we've heard this thousands of times in the fanfiction world and in other creative aspects of fandoms – feedback is practically gold for creators. The difference between an ambitious creator and an indifferent creator is feedback, whether it's comments, reviews, shares, or any other form of communication between a creator and their audience. And trust, I know Sparia is a crackship and I do** _ **not**_ **expect the same level of attention as an Ezria or Spoby story, however, you guys are not as small as you think you guys are!**

 **When I say Different Gazes sometimes goes toe-to-toe with some of my popular Emison stories when it comes to monthly views, it** _ **honestly**_ **does! And I have so much appreciation for you guys who have been supportive of this story after all this time. But with these last chapters, before my hiatus, it really felt like I was talking to a crowd of about four people and it really confused me. Especially when the views go in the thousands. And after some not-so-successful attempts of encouraging readers to be vocal with their opinions towards this work, that's when my drive to continue this story took a massive it. Unfortunately, here we are a little over a year later.**

 **But the thing is, I** _ **really, really, really**_ **love this universe I created here. I love everything about it. And because of that, it would really bother me that I couldn't finish it. I would think about it just about every day about how I need to get back to my babies. So, one day, I opened up word doc and just tried to spit out as much as I could – taking it a step at a time. And here we are!**

 **We've had happy Sparia for so long that this Sparia almost seems unnatural. Just as Aria stated, it feels like they had reset and restarted back to how they met. Aria believes that Spencer could not be this mad at her from their fight and that it had to be something else but is it really? Could it be that Spencer needs space after their blow up? Or is it truly something else? But most importantly, how long will this last?**

 **Two more chapters left until the end…thank you for those who are still here with me.**


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